Love at Long Range (VERSION 2, OFFICIAL)
by Ashleigh148
Summary: They met when they were 7 years old, after he took her hand during that paradrop in 2531 and have been inseparable ever since. Separated by disaster, they work to face their demons, wondering if they'll ever reunite. (Second and official version of "Love at Long Range".)
1. Demons

**A/N: Hello, everyone! This is a second version to my other story also called "Love at Long Range", featuring everyone's favorite sniper, Jun.**

 **But that's the first version. After I had finished writing the main story, a lot of things did not sit right with me so I wanted to rewrite the chapters, but instead, I decided to post a second version on its own.**

 **This is what I consider to be the official version. What the proper background for my OC is supposed to be, as well as her future.**

 **Enjoy! :)**

* * *

 **Halo - Love at Long Range**

* * *

 **Location: Rooftops, Cutlass Base, Lake Deseda, Eposz  
Reach  
July 31** **st** **, 2552  
8:23am**

"We need to talk."

Noble Three glance up from his data pad to his right, where the stern voice came from. "For once, I'm keeping my mouth shut. The Commander doesn't know and never will."

The female Spartan appeared as if she was ready to drop an earful on him in order to keep him quiet, but was surprised by his words. "Oh. Well… thanks, I guess."

Jun's eyes had already returned to his data pad as he continued to lean his left side over the solid railing. "Just looking out for a teammate. I _am_ the eyes of the team, anyways."

Misha-B312 gave him a nod. "I appreciate it." Expressing her thanks, she spun around to leave the rooftops, only to be stopped by Three's next words.

"Can I give you some advice, Six?"

Noble Six breathed in the chilling air of Reach and let it go through her nose, having almost anticipated this. "I don't need or want it, Three."

"Stop running."

Of course, those 2 words stirred some confusion in her. "Excuse me?"

Jun sat the data pad down on the railing. "If last night was any indication, you've been running from your pain for a very long time. Keeping it all in. You keep it up and you'll go insane."

"Didn't know you were a psychologist, Three."

"I've seen it happen one too many times. And I would like it if our newest addition stopped yelling at something that wasn't there in the middle of the night up on the rooftops."

She exhaled furiously, still in disbelief that someone had caught her talking to a hallucination. "I didn't think anyone would come up here. I mean, I get you're the sniper and all, but I figured you've had your fill of scouting from high places."

"The rooftops were our escape. I'm not able to let it go. So yes, I'm always here."

"… 'Our'?"

He froze if he had been face-to-face with Death himself. "As I was saying-"

"Yours and who else's?" She questioned immediately.

"I don't need or want to tell you, Six."

"Then I guess my personal demons are none of your business." She shrugged her shoulders at him.

"I never said they were. I just don't want you to start losing it on the battlefield in the near future."

She gave a short laugh, amused by this last sentence. "First off, we're Spartans. The word 'future' is _not_ found in our dictionary. And secondly, I'm not looking for a new best friend here, so you don't have to worry about me. I'm perfectly fine."

He nodded. "So I guess that's why you were asking 'Angie' to leave you alone."

It was Misha's turn to be taken aback. Taking in a much-needed breath, she said, "You heard that much, eh?"

"Like you said, it's none of my business. I won't interfere. But if you need help," He returned his gaze to his data pad. "I'm here."

She wanted to say it. The reason why she was so closed off. Why she was always alone. She wanted to so badly but she never ever wanted anyone to think she was soft. Noble Three did not seem like the judging type though. All these emotions in her chest just waiting to burst out. "My sister," Misha blurted out, having lost the fight. "She took care of me after my parents died. She was killed trying to protect me when the Covenant attacked. She's the reason why I'm here. I never forgot the sight of her body sprawled over our coffee table as I was being escorted out by UNSC. I swore I'd make the Covenant pay for what they did. But… I guess I never really faced my demons, did I?"

"That why you're a lone wolf? It's easier to not have any emotional connection to anyone? Not have to take care of anyone?"

"Angie took care of me and it got her killed, didn't it?"

He shook his head lightly. "It's not the same thing. You can take care of someone and they can _still_ die."

"Exactly," Now, Misha was only getting a little confused by his words. "I'm lost, Three. I once heard Kat refer to you as a cold-hearted bastard."

Jun produced a smirk at that. "Kat's called me a lot of things over the years. 'Cold-hearted bastard' is actually one of the nicest things she's called me. In fact, it's the _only_ nice thing she's ever called me…"

For that, Misha gave a genuine giggle. "But here you are, trying to help me. I thought Jorge was the only softy here."

"Just because I shoot at whoever or whatever a superior points at, doesn't mean I don't have a soul, you know. I know my priorities."

"And the person you share this rooftop escape with is one of them?"

Jun was now completely regretting his mistake earlier, saying that the rooftop was 'our' escape. He was regretting the entire statement all together. Reluctantly, he said, "Yeah. She was never good as hiding her feelings like you can, though. She's always tried to save everyone."

"Expect that you can't."

"But she tried. And then would blame herself whenever something went wrong. Whenever she was fighting her demons, she'd come up here most of the time. I'd always make sure she was never alone."

It was all coming together for the newest member of Noble. "So when you said you've seen it one too many times…"

"I just know what having demons looks like. I also know what tends to happen when someone doesn't face their demons."

The team's sniper was trying to help her out. After all, he was the eyes of the team; he looked out for them in the battlefield. Perhaps it was time she stopped and allow someone to assist her for once. Perhaps-

"I failed her," Her thoughts were interrupted when Jun spoke again. Misha found him staring at the glistening lake, his bright blue eyes soften as he spoke the next words. "Would be nice to not see someone else fall."


	2. Fix

**Halo - "Love At Long Range" (Version 2)**

* * *

 **Location: Rooftops, Cutlass Base, Lake Desesa, Eposz  
Reach  
August 7th, 2552  
9:34pm**

 _ **I had the nightmare again. You'd think it would stop after 3 years. I wish it would. It's never a dream of the way she would smile at me. Or the sound of her gentle voice. Or her brother's lullaby she'd sing every now and then. What happened was my fault and there is absolutely nothing I can do change the past.**_

His thoughts were interrupted when the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs reached his ears. He could only have one guess as to who it was. "Evening, Six. Looks like you're my sniper buddy in this recon mission." He greeted, perched on the solid railing of Cutlass Base.

"And I honestly thought I've had my fill of you." The newest member of Noble Team said dryly.

"And you wonder why you have no friends."

"Didn't say I wanted any."

"And I have to trust that you will have my back. Can you even _snipe_ in the first place?" He questioned, concerned for his own life.

"Hand me your sniper rifle and you'll find out. Painfully." Misha added at the end in a threatening tone.

His eyes widened with horror. "You're not touching my baby."

Misha gave a genuine giggle at his reaction, feeling years of bitterness slowly melting away for the first time. She glanced up – the moon was beautiful tonight. Probably a reason why Jun was always out here.

There was something else on her mind and she was trying to find a way to converse with the third member of Noble Team. How would he react?

Got to find out. "Celestina, huh? Pretty name."

She expected the few seconds of silence from him. She expected that he never thought that name would leave her lips. "You need to stop hanging around Jorge and Emile, young lady. They're a bad influence on you."

Trying to use humour to turn this around. "Rumor has it that you two were pretty close."

He maintained a steel expression, one she found unnerving. But the lone wolf was not to be intimidated. "You shouldn't listen to rumors. And besides, I do not have to explain myself to you, Lieutenant."

"Of course. Just one question though?"

"I suppose one wouldn't hurt. What is it?"

"Was she the one you used to share the rooftops with? The one you failed?"

He remained completely still, giving himself a few seconds before answering with, "Yes."

"What happened to her?"

"You promised one question, Six." He reminded her, seemingly tired.

"I'm curious about her," Misha's declaration definitely caused some confusion in the sniper, turning his whole body to her this time as he was still rested on the railing. "If it wasn't for your friendship with her, you wouldn't have helped me face my demons. In a way, she's helping me too."

With a small sigh, he said, "She would have loved to help you directly. She's very sociable. Always willing to understand others."

"She sounds like Jorge." Misha commented with a smile.

"She's human. They both are. More than we will ever be." Jun propped both his legs on the railing once again.

Misha couldn't stop that single laugh from escaping her throat, considering how true it was. "You got that right…"

He heaved another sigh, shaking his head lightly. "There was an invasion. We were on the rooftops. Brutes came charging, one of them had a Spiker. She pushed me out of the way," As he recalled the events, he turned his head to view the ground below him.

She glanced at the direction of the railing, grasping Celestina's fate. "I'm sorry to hear that. That's not a way to go," When she received a small nod from the sniper, she continued with a question that popped into her mind. "So why are you always here? On the rooftops? Looking down at the ground? You're punishing yourself by doing that."

"That _is_ the whole point." He answered with a little smirk.

"It wasn't your fault."

"Just like your sister's death wasn't," He retorted. "But here you are, refusing to let others help you."

"I know Angie's death wasn't my fault. Since it wasn't, I didn't want to ever have anyone else's blood on my hands, just like you _think_ Celestina's on yours. Isn't a nice feeling, right? I mean, here you are, spending most of your time on the rooftops, looking down at the ground, and reliving that moment. You're miserable. So forgive me if I don't want that for myself."

"Except that you already have it for yourself. You see your sister every now and then, don't you? And I wouldn't say it's being miserable. It's being haunted."

"Same thing. It's still tiring." She said.

He lowered his head. "I know…"

"Maybe it's time we say goodbye." Misha told him softly.

"I can't." He said wearily, as if he had no choice.

"There's nothing left, Three. No point holding onto something you can't fix."

They locked eyes, but Misha broke away to leave the rooftops via the stairs, leaving the sniper alone with his thoughts.

Jun was indeed tired of being miserable. Haunted. However, what was he going to do? Mendez used to say it was wasteful to dwell on those you lost. That you needed to keep moving. That the world wasn't going to stop just because someone was gone.

The difference was, this was not just someone. She was his princess.

Jun reached forward and tapped a few buttons on his inactive datapad, bringing up a collection of video journal entries. He found the appropriate one and hit the 'play' button. A holographic screen of a female Spartan projected directly above the datapad. Heaving a big sigh, she began to speak.

" _ **Journal entry: 0241. It's the 6**_ _ **th**_ _ **of September, 2549. I'm here, on the rooftops of AMBER Base. Beaumontia's moon is just as gorgeous as ever. It's been… 3 days since we lost Nicky. I miss him… so badly. I miss his spirited personality. I miss his jokes. I miss hearing him tease me about Jun. I'd always thought that he'd be here, you know? Along with Jun. I thought we'd be Team Phantom forever. I was wrong."**_

" _ **I haven't slept in these 3 days. Regular sleeping is hard enough what with my sniper training. I've tried sleeping but every time I close my eyes… I hear it. I hear Nicky's screaming. His screams over the radio. Why the fuck did I listen to him when he told me to run for the extraction point? If I had just stayed, I could have helped him. Maybe even saved him. Fuckin' awesome team leader I am. I ran while my teammate screamed in agony. I'll never get it out my head…"**_

" _ **Jun and I haven't talked about it yet. Nicky was his brother too. I can only imagine how shitty he must be feeling as well. I think he's just disappointed he couldn't be there, by Nicky's side. I wonder if he's disappointed in me too. I'll never know because that man is so hard to read. I wouldn't blame him though, if he was upset with me. I deserve it. I deserve the punishment."**_

With a final sigh, Jun dropped his head, defeated.

" _ **GOOOOOOOOD Evening! This is journal entry number 0242. It's the 7**_ _ **th**_ _ **of September, 2549."**_

He glanced up to find a new video journal entry of Celestina. "What the hell? Is it on auto-play?"

" _ **This is Princess Celestina of the ever-awesome Team Phantom. Yep. I'm back to my old opening. That's because I'm feeling a little better since yesterday. Don't get me wrong; it's gonna take me a long, long time before I fully move on from Nicky's death. But until then, and even though it sounds impossible, I'm gonna try to be positive. I've beaten my demons before, I can do it again."**_

" _ **After I finished yesterday's journal entry, Jun came up to the rooftops. Told me to stay put and I finally complied after ignoring him for days. He asked for me not to be sad. He said, 'If you're sad, then Dominick is just going to come back from the dead and slap me upside my head and blame me for it. Goodness knows he's always blamed me for your periods of sadness.' I mean, it's probably true. Nicky would probably do that."**_

" _ **And we finally managed to talk about what went down with Nicky. About how it wasn't anyone's fault because it was a decision that Nicky had made and it was one that we had to respect. I guess that was… one way to put it, even though it still doesn't feel right. But then again, what I am trying to fix? Nicky's gone. How am I going to bring him back? I can't. I can't turn what happened around. His actions saved our lives and destroyed what would have been a massive Covenant base. But what sucks is that there will be more to come before we can completely drive them off the planet. So I guess what I can to is fight. Keep fighting until there's nothing left of me. Because there's no point holding onto something I can't fix."**_

" _ **Ambrose always said to look after the people who are still here. And right now, all I've got is Jun. I can't lose him. He's the only thing I have left in this war-torn galaxy. My only family. I'll do whatever it takes to ensure his survival. It's my job as team leader. And I'll make sure of it. Know why? Because I'm a motherfuckin' princess."**_

And then she disintegrated into nothing, marking the end of the journal entry.

Jun reached forward to stop the auto-play sequence, not without a satisfied smile on his face. "Goddamn, princess. Even when you're not here, you still manage to make me feel better with your grace."


	3. Princess Celestina

**Halo - Love at Long Range**

* * *

 **Location: Celestina's dorms, AMBER Base  
Planet: Beaumontia  
Epsilon Eridani system  
7** **th** **July, 2543  
3:22am **

"THERE'S MY BABY GIRL!"

"Nicky!" Celestina-A178 was taken into a loving hug by her teammate, upon her arrival back at AMBER base. "Oh, I wish you could have joined me on this mission."

"If the bosses were going to slip someone into their dinky base to find Oliver's location, it definitely had to be you," Dominick-A124 commented as he put her down. "I heard it was a bust, though."

"Total bust," She sighed, frowning at the failure of the misson. "But having us always sneaking in or destroying their bases isn't gonna help. It's only gonna make Oliver more difficult to find."

"You want to tell that to the brass, princess?" Jun asked as he rested against the wall of her room.

"I like my position as leader of this _amaaaaaaazing_ team too much to want to change that," She told him with her pleasant smile. Turning to Dominick, she cupped his chin, heaving another sigh. "Oh, did I ever miss you guys. It's good to be home."

"Well, we're glad to have our team leader back safe and sound." Dominick patted her on her head, earning a giggle from the female Spartan.

* * *

 **Location: Rooftops  
3:58am**

"Alright, what's on your mind, princess?"

A little smile played on her lips as the team leader of Team Phantom was perched on the solid railing of AMBER Base. "Can't hide anything from you, eh?" She asked lovingly, looking past her feet.

"After 12 years of friendship, I'd thought you would have known that by now." Jun said with a raised eyebrow, crossing his arms.

"Wow… 12 years?" She pushed herself off the railing to meet up with him. "Felt just like yesterday we were a couple of 7-year-olds."

"We're still young," He stated, and then continued after a small pause. "I know you miss your brother."

Exhaling deeply, she leaned against the railing instead, her hazel eyes fixed onto the stars above them. Beaumontia. A planet known for its scenery and now Insurrectionist activity. "He would have been 29 this year. I thought that as the years went by, it would be easier to handle it," She turned her head to him. "It's not. Ambrose always said to focus on the present and the people who are still here. It's not that easy."

As he spoke, he brought some locks of her deep red hair to her front. Her hair was getting past her shoulders. It was only a matter of time before she would get it cut. She never did like it growing over her shoulders. "You have every right to remember your brother. Don't forget that."

"Do you still think about your dad, Jun?" She questioned, after giving a little grin to his actions.

"Whenever I get the chance, princess." He told her as they both leaned their backs against the railing this time.

She smiled sweetly at him. Her smile – the one thing that he could never get enough of. "I'm glad. Despite the life we live, we can't forget our families."

"I know, princess," He acknowledged. "Go get some rest. It's gonna be 5am. You can sleep all you want and no one will bother you."

"It's my training as a sniper. Falling asleep is gonna be a challenge. You can sing me my brother's lullaby!" She almost very well cheered.

"And give you nightmares?" He asked, outwardly shocked by her request. "Sorry, princess, I love you too much to do that to you."

"Ohhhhhhh, you love me, eh?"

"I thought I make it obvious every time?"

"That you love me? Oh yes, you do! That you _love me_ love me? I didn't see any signs. I, however, have been dropping you hints like how the ODSTs drop. Even more so after Nicky and I had a bit of an interesting conversation last month." She said in an 'as matter of fact' manner.

It quickly registered for him, what she meant. This was unbelievable. That Dominick. He must have told Celestina everything and for the last month, she had been sitting on it, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. "That's quite the coincidence," Jun said as he turned his body to her, left hand on the railing. "Nick and I had a bit of an interesting conversation last month too."

"That _is_ quite the coincidence. What did you boys talk about?"

"Oh please. Princesses first."

"Well…" Even when the cat was out of the bag, the two of them could not stop the teasing. Not like it was a bad thing. "We talked- well, _I_ talked about how a certain sniper couldn't get out of my head, haunting me whenever he wasn't around, what with his sexy accent and all." She was tracing circles on the hand he had on the railing.

"Hm. Sounds like this guy is a bit of a nuisance." He told her with a titled head.

She shook hers. "But a sweet nuisance."

"Anything else?"

"Nope," Something told Jun that this was not the end of this interrogation. "Your turn. What did you and Nicky talk about?"

"I thought you and Dominick already talked about it?"

"Not really. He just gave me the short version."

"Which is?"

To prepare herself for the re-enactment, she cleared her throat and attempted to mimic Dominick's typical throaty tone. "Wait a minute. You mean you haven't figured out that that enormous tattooed baby is in love with you?"

"You know, I wouldn't call me a baby…"

Celestina delivered a light slap to the centre of his chest. "Come on, tell me!"

"Well, what _exactly_ do you want me to tell you, princess?" Jun grunted, shielding his chest from any more of her slaps.

"Why? Because I don't get it. What's there to love about me? Even I annoy me 3-quarters of the time." She pouted, seemingly irritated.

Her facial expression caused a chuckle to leave the tattooed sniper. "There's your first reason: you're adorable. As dark as this galaxy is, you always crack jokes, keep a beaming face for everyone, ask us if we're okay. Honestly, your caring personality knows no bounds. Your grace, for one. Remember when the augmentations nearly crippled me? And I had to stay in recovery? You were there, with me. You didn't even have to say anything; just your presence was enough to tell me that it was going to be okay. And speaking of that, you weren't even _ready_ to completely walk but you were still _right there_ , with me. When you should have been working on learning to use your limbs again."

He caught a glimpse of a wince on her tanned face upon the mention of the augmentations. He was mostly unconscious during that time, but he clearly remembered the heartbroken look she tried to hide as he recovered; not knowing if her long-time teammate was going to survive or not.

"And this smile," Jun set a hand under her chin, prompting a glowing smile from Celestina. "God, what would I do without it?"

"But what about all these… demons I face?" She questioned with much disgust. "I end up running to you or you end up coming to my rescue like a superhero. I'm tired of being a burden."

Jun knew she was referring to her seldom periods of mental unstableness – the feelings of regret, nightmares, and hallucinations she would have upon losing a person she cared about or tried to save. He recalled the first time she tried to kill herself – a mere few weeks after they arrived at Camp Currahee and met – she had been having nightmares of the day she lost her whole family. He had managed to stop her in time.

" _But why, Celest? Why would you do something like that?"  
_

" _I'm tired, Jun! I'm tired of these nightmares! I miss them all so much… This voice in my head keeps telling me the pain would stop if I do it! And I just want it to stop…"_

" _Don't do that. It's not a nice feeling. You'll be in more pain if you do it. And I don't think there'll be anything I can do to help you. And I want to help princess Celestina always."_

 _The promises you make when you're 7._ "Come on, don't keep saying that. I told you: you can never be a burden to me. It's never been that way and never will be. Like I said before, helping you out helps me to work out my own demons. And I want to help princess Celestina always."

The giggle she gave him told him that she must have remembered the first time he said those words. Without warning, she threw herself into his arms, nestling her head on his chest. "Thanks for having my back!" She expressed with all her heart.

"You're more than welcome, princess," He enveloped her in his arms, a chuckle escaping his throat. "So. Sexy accent, eh?"

"Don't act like you don't know what I mean!" She glanced up at his face.

"I'm an innocent little boy. I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Shut up! You talk too much!"

"Why don't you shut me up then?" He asked with a smirk.

"Fine then." Following that declaration, she planted a kiss on his lips, effectively immobilizing the sniper. She felt one his hands running through her hair, causing a shiver down her spine. She loved it. Unfortunately, the need for air was too great and they had to pull back.

"I quite like this method of shutting me up, princess." He commented cheekily, moving a strand of her gorgeous red hair away from her eyes.

"Clearly it wasn't effective. You're still talking."

"Go ahead: shut me up some more. Please do, I haven't learnt my lesson yet."

This time he was met with an uncontrollable laughter from her; it was like a lullaby to him. "Oh my fucking _God_ , I love you."

That was more than enough for Jun to lean in for another passionate kiss.


	4. Sacrifice

**Halo - Love at Long Range**

* * *

" _Yuri, what the FUCK do you think you're doing?!"_

" _This armor's barely holding together, Celestina. The detonator to the bomb's gone so one of us is gonna have to start the bomb. And it sure as hell ain't gonna be you."_

" _Open the fucking door, Yuri! DON'T DO THIS!"_

" _I'M NOT BLOWING UP THIS PLACE TO KINGDOM COME UNTIL YOU LEAVE! SO GO!"_

* * *

 **Location: Celestina's dorms, INDIGO Base  
Planet: Robus  
Cyngus system  
11** **th** **August, 2541  
9:05pm**

Celestina felt a jolt to her spine, as if she had been rudely brought back to reality. She glanced forward to find herself standing in front of her full body mirror. _Jesus Christ. When did I get out of the shower and stand in front of the goddamn mirror? Can't let this happen again. It_ won't _happen again. Yuri… he made his choice. He was strong, even until the end. It's okay, Celest. It's okay._

"Goddamn it…" Her usual honeyed voice cracked as she spoke. "It's NOT OKAY!" She cried out as her fist colliding with the mirror, tiny shards gathering around her feet.

Alarmed by her actions, she pulled her hand away and faced her back to the mirror, inspecting her hand.

Only to find it completely unharmed.

"What the-" She spun around and found the mirror unbroken, with no pieces on the floor.

Celestina shut her hazel eyes as tight as she could, cursing her current situation. _Fuck, it's happening again… I don't want to go back to therapy! I don't need it! I can beat this!_

"Baby girl? You in there?"

Dominick. The charismatic, knife-wielding assassin of Team Phantom. She smiled just a little to herself upon hearing his concerned, husky tone. "Come on in, Nicky."

Reading the command, her door slid to an open and Dominick strolled in. He was of African descent and had the calmest emerald eyes she had ever seen. "I heard a loud crash comin' from around here. You know where it- JESUS!"

"What?" She questioned worriedly.

"What the hell happened to your mirror?!" His green eyes were ready to pop right out of their sockets.

As if the grim reaper himself was standing to her left, she was reluctant to turn.

There was her mirror, with a hole right in the middle, shards at her feet just like before. _It wasn't a vision? What the hell is going on?_

"Baby girl, your hand…!" Dominick ran over to gently grip it, a horrified expression on his face. "What the hell did you do?!" He scurried all around her dorm to find a first-aid kit. "I swear, if you weren't my team leader, I'd slap you upside your head!"

"No… No, I didn't!" Tears began to form in her eyes. "I mean, I _thought_ I did but-but it was just in my head! I… I didn't… I _couldn't_ have…"

Dominick's action of frantically trying to open up the first-aid kit slowed down as she spoke. He was beginning to understand what had gone down here. "Oh, baby girl… It's obvious that Yuri's death is bothering you."

"It's _not_ ," She stated sternly to him. If she had to be perfectly honest, she was actually saying it to herself. "I'm just tired, that's all."

"You came back from the mission 4 days ago and you've been coped up here or on the rooftops. I don't think I've seen you hit the gym or the firing range to be tired." He said.

Celestin appeared to be appalled upon hearing that from her teammate. "You're spying on me now?"

"Baby girl-"

Dominick had already finished bandaging her maimed hand. After that statement, she drew her hand away as if she had been offended. "I see where this is going. Don't think I don't know. Someone else dies on my watch and you expected me to be an emotional wreck, just like always."

"That's not it, baby girl."

"It's the truth. I'm not stupid, okay? Well no more! Those days are over. I'm not letting these petty feelings get in the way of my job or my life," She got to her feet in an instant. "But thanks for running in and treating me." So saying, she made her way to the exit, leaving Dominick to ponder over Celestina's new attitude – one which he did not like. And neither would their currently-absent teammate.

* * *

 **Location: Jun's dorms  
16** **th** **August  
5:53pm**

"Dominick. What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm not repeating the entire goddamn story, Jun."

"You're trying to tell me that Celestina - and I'm talking about _Celestina_ – _talked back to you_?"

"She was all up in my grill. Talking about how I expected her to be an emotional wreck, about how she's not going to let petty feelings get in the way of her job or life."

"Goddamn it, Nick. I only left her with you for 2 months!" Jun exclaimed, flaying his arms.

"This isn't my fault, jackass!" Dominick shot back, ready to slap his teammate. "Something went completely wrong and now she's trying to be cold."

"This doesn't make any sense…" Jun commented with a puzzled shake of his head.

"There was some truth to what she said."

"What?"

"Come on, man. You know as well as I do that we've been treating her like she's a fragile little doll! She's not! She's a Spartan!"

"I know that! But this new attitude of hers is ridiculous!"

"Just like what she said, man – she's tired. The three of us are."

"She's trying to be closed off from her emotions. Like the rest of us!" Jun said. "Is that what you want, Nick? I sure as hell don't! You know as well as I do, that the only reason why we're not entirely cold as the rest of our brothers and sisters is because of Celest. You know that she's this… ray of light that keeps this shithole of a world from getting dark. Why we keep going. She brings us hope. I don't know about you, Nick, but she's the only good thing I've got."

If Dominick could, he would second _and_ third that statement. "She definitely is…."

"She keeps this up, we're gonna lose her. Do you really wanna not hear her laugh anymore? Not get into stupid fights, only to have her win because she puts you in a headlock?" After a pause and a much-need sigh, he continued with the next question. "Dominick, do you see the way she smiles at me? God, it's like- it's like everything went wrong is right again. I can't let go of all of that."

Neither could the knife-wielding Spartan. "So what do you wanna do?"

* * *

 **Location: Rooftops  
10:24pm **

"Hey, sweetie! I thought you and Nicky were playing cards?"

"I came to see if I can tear you away from the rooftops to join us. It's better with a princess." Jun told her with a smile, looking up at her as she was sitting on the railing. "You know, royalty and all."

She held back a small laugh. "I'm sorry, sweetie. But I just want to stay out here. The air out here is really nice tonight."

"That's fine," He set a comforting hand on her knee, to which she smiled at. "Whenever you want to join us, you can."

"Jun…" She dragged in a little bit of annoyance. "You don't have to worry about me."

"Pardon?"

"Nicky has a big mouth. We both know that. And you're not fooling anyone, either."

"What do you mean?"

"Your little mission? Something happened, didn't it? When you came back this morning, you looked like you needed some time to yourself or you were gonna lose your mind."

"That's not the case, princess."

"I'm trained in reading people, jackass."

"That's not very nice…" He said softly, almost pouting.

"Are you forgetting who improved your skills in it?" She questioned as she threw her legs over the railing and jumped off to meet up with him. "Even without you saying a word, I know something's up with you too. I don't wanna talk about Yuri and neither do you about whatever mission you had to leave for. So does it really matter? Can't we just go back to normal?"

"It's not normal if you're going to behave this way." He quickly retorted.

"In what way? Dismissively? I've decided that I'm not going to let the deaths of others affect me. I'm not going to wonder what I could have done definitely. I'm not going to have any regrets. _Why_ is that a bad thing? Jesus, it's like you _want_ me to have a meltdown!"

"Nobody is saying that. I get that you want to feel differently about the horrors we go through. But to shut Dominick and me out? Act like you don't have your humanity? I can't accept that."

" _Listen_ to me!" She suddenly cried, tight grasps on his upper arms. "It's _not your job_ to save me! You don't _owe me anything_! I just want to forget about it, like it was a bad dream. You're my family, aren't you? I need you to respect my decision."

"I'm also your superhero, as you've always loved to say."

Her grip on his upper arms loosened.

"You're my team leader. I'll do whatever you want me to. But to respect your decision to self-destruct? I can't let that happen. I've never allowed that to happen."

Her hands slid down from his arms into his in a perfect clutch. He wasn't letting go and he needed her to know that. "I still remember saving you from your first suicide attempt. I said that I want to help princess Celestina always. It's been 10 years since I told you that and nothing's changed."

She was staring into his bright blue eyes as he spoke, listening to his words intently.

"I'll tell you what I told Dominick – you're the only thing anchoring the both of us to our humanity. What's going to happen to us if we lose you?"

 _Goddamn it, Jun, I love you with everything I have. If I had the courage to tell you…_ She loosened her right hand from his grasp to caress his cheek, right where a tattoo of a fistful of arrows were. "I can't afford to break again, sweetie. I don't _want_ to break again. When the next psych evaluation comes along, I want to be _strong_. I don't want Ackerson to make good on his promise all those years ago."

It all made sense to him right then and there. "To put you in ONI's psych branch, and that Ambrose won't be able to save you this time."

"You and Nicky are my family. I'm not going to let someone else come in and just take over. It won't be the same. I know you guys won't like that either. I'm _happy_ here. I know that happiness isn't exactly a word we would use considering our lives but I'm _happy_. I'm happy knowing that we managed to save a little innocent town from Innie activity. I'm happy playing cards with you guys. But when it comes to my mental stability, that's a different story. I wanna get better. I wanna be normal."

"I think you're perfect just the way you are. You let yourself _feel_. It's not a bad thing. You suffer the pain instead of trying to cover it up. It takes a strong person to do that. I think you're really brave. If you want to fight it, by all means, do just that. But don't shut us out, princess," He then ran a hand over her head almost in a pleading manner and stopped at the back of her neck." And don't suffer in silence."

Without a single thought, she pressed her chest into his chest and began to sob. Immediately Jun's protective arms wrapped around her, holding her close. "Yuri's death was _so_ unfair… We identified the Innie's headquarters and needed to destroy it. There was a lot more men than we expected. The detonator to the bomb got destroyed and Yuri's armor was in bad shape. He kept taking all the hits for me. He locked me out of the room with the bomb and detonated it remotely. I begged and pleaded but he wouldn't open the door. So I ran. Jumped out of the nearest window and into the water while the structure blew up above me. Tried to raise Yuri but he wouldn't answer…"

He patted her head in the most comforting manner possible. "Yuri made his choice, princess. To save the mission and you."

She hung onto him a little tighter. "Aren't you tired, Jun? Witnessing so many good lives wasted?"

"Yuri's sacrifice was _not_ a waste," He reminded her. "On my way back, I kept hearing about your mission. How discouraged the rebels of planet Dolor had become. How there were talks of them surrendering. All because of you and Yuri. There's no easy way to say it. We're always going to lose people. You know that."

After a brief silence, he heard a single word come out of her in a meekly manner. "No," She glanced up at his face. "No, I don't believe that. I'm gonna do whatever I can to protect you and Nicky."

"Celest-"

"And if there's a need for a sacrifice, I'm gonna make sure it's one that's worth it. Nobody else is gonna die for a temporary victory."

He gave her forlorn smile, wondering how the princess was going to make all she had just said happen. "You know, you're just one Spartan."

"I'm backed up by 2 others," She declared. "There's Dominick, the assassin with an efficiency for knives. Doesn't matter how fast his target is running, one flick of his wrist and he'll cut you down," She produced a grin this time, picking on the sleeve of his shirt. "And then there's Jun. Way better sniper than I ever will be. He's so _fucking_ _good_ that ONI has to pull him out of my team for 'secret missions' every now and then. With these two by my side, don't you think I'll be able to make good on my promise?" She inquired, withdrawing to grasp both of his hands.

With a hearty chuckle, he nodded his head at her. "You bet, princess."


	5. That Song

**Halo - Love at Long Range**

* * *

" _Are you okay?"_

" _Yeah. I think so. Thanks for jumping with me. I thought that trainer was going to be so mad!"_

" _He's mean. Forget about him."_

" _Thanks again."_

" _I'm Jun, by the way."_

" _Oh! My name is Celestina."_

" _Celestina? That sounds like a name you're give to a princess. Are you a princess?"_

* * *

 **Location: Location: Rooftops, Cutlass Base, Lake Desesa, Eposz  
Reach  
August 11th, 2552  
10:58pm**

"That song."

"Pardon?"

"These past 3 years I've known you, you hum that song to yourself every now and then."

Jun gave Noble Five a smirk upon hearing that. "And here I thought nobody picked it up."

Jorge smiled in a way that told Jun he was clearly wrong. He paused just before asking, "It belonged to her, didn't it?"

Jun still remembered the day he first met the heavy weapons specialist of Noble Team. Jorge was the first one to offer his sympathies about Celestina and Jun could not believe how sincere the latter was about it. If there was one person other than Celestina Jun could talk to about virtually anything, it was definitely the Spartan-II. "It was a song her brother used to sing to her and her sister. Celestina would sing it, and I guess I just picked it up myself. She sings it _way_ better, I can assure you."

"I'll bet." Jorge leaned over the solid railing, having joined up with the sniper. "The new girl seems to be pretty close to you."

"She's troubled, like the rest of us. I'm just helping her out the same way Celest would have."

"3 years is quite a while, isn't it?"

Jun stared wistfully into the distance, his blue eyes empty. "Painfully enough, yes."

* * *

 _ **It's been 5 years since the Covenant destroyed my homeplanet, Convergence V. Killed my parents, brother, and sister. Mama and Papa were at their gun range when our neighborhood started getting bombed. Big brother Caden was picking Lea and me up from school at the same time. We and a bunch of other students and teachers ran into the school when a bunch of those Brutes started to engage. We were running up the stairs when it suddenly gave way and I watched as Lea and Caden fell into the basement, screaming their names over and over again. I wanted to dive right in but a shot from a Grunt's plasma pistol frightened me so badly that I scurried up the steps, never looking back. Whichever room I ran into, a few Grunts and Jackals entered in after a while.**_

 _ **I don't know how I did it, but I managed to avoid them (my calling as an infiltrator?) and leave the room. I wanted to find a way downstairs but more and more Covenant soldiers were pouring in. There was an emergency exit. I ran like hell among all the plasma fire and took shelter in a nearby building.**_

 _ **It was the worst thing a little girl can go through, but it served to make me a better Spartan. Do you know how difficult it is to not forget the faces of your family members? I'm trying so hard.**_

 _ **And now here I am, after 5 years of training with Team Phantom, about to go for the greatest test of my life: the augmentations. Am I scared? Not really. Truthfully, I'm scared for Jun and Nicky. I want them to get past this. And I know they will. I suppose that, as the team leader, I'm naturally inclined to worry about them. Well, they'll be fine. I'll be fine too. And we'll go back to doing what we do best.**_


	6. Lullaby

**Halo - Love at Long Range**

* * *

 **Location: Nearby the base of the Beaumontia Rebel Association  
Planet: Beaumontia  
Epsilon Eridani system  
14th March, 2545  
11:02pm**

"It's a beautiful night tonight. Too bad we're stuck out here at this Innie base,"

"I think we can make this just as fun, baby girl,"

"Remember we only allowed to _subdue_ them, Nicky," Celestina said in her distinctive sweet tone. "Don't go nuts on me now,"

"Good luck with that."

"Shut it, Jun!" Dominick shot back, jerking his head to his right.

"Come on, boys!" She whined in a playful manner. "We got a job to do. Those rebels have stolen UNSC weapons in that dinky little base of theirs. _We_ have to steal them back. So," she glanced to her right and then her left. "How shall we do this, my darlings?"

"I've already scouted the area," Jun then spoke, keeping his gaze on the base below them. "There are 2 sets of guards and they change every 20 minutes. One guard at each side of the base."

Dominick then asked, "And when we get inside?"

She smirked behind her steel and red Scout helmet. "We wreak havoc."

They liked the sound of that. "Rock, paper, scissors? Loser has to stay up here and be jealous that the other two are having fun."

"You're on." Jun said.

"I'm feeling lucky anyways," Celestina added. "Ready? 1, 2, 3!"

"Goddamn it..."

"Sorry, Jun!" She apologized playfully, handing him her Sniper Rifle. "Keep a look out for us and we'll yell for you once we've secured the base."

"Alright. You two be careful now," He told them as he attached Celestina's Sniper Rifle to his back.

Dominick let go of a dark chuckle at that. "I think it's the Innies that need to be careful."

On this intensely quiet night, it was Team Phantom's mission to retrieve a stolen batch of UNSC weapons from a tiny base belonging to the Beaumontia Rebel Association. The Spartan team had been chasing the leader of the rebels, Jamie Oliver, for the last 2 years but he was proving to be difficult to locate, leaving only riots and the dead in his wake.

* * *

"Shotguns, Sniper Rifles, DMRs, Assault Rifles... you guys have everything!" Dominick commented, pulling out one Shotgun from a locker and inspecting it.

Only 4 Insurrectionists were left conscious in this tiny base and they were _not_ in a talking mood. They were on the ground, their backs against the wall and their heads hung low, as the 3 Spartans of Team Phantom stood before them.

"You people did a lot of damage, taking down that pelican and stealing all these weapons. What, did you _really_ think we wouldn't find you?" Celestina questioned rhetorically.

"We've been chasing you dickheads for the last 2 years. It's a pretty long time." Dominick dumped that Shotgun back into the locker and took a few intimidating steps towards them.

"Ha. And yet you still can't find our leader." The sole blonde of the remaining Insurrectionist muttered, enough for the Spartans to hear.

"You're askin' for it, buddy." Dominick warned in a cautionary tone.

"It's okay, Nicky," She reached over and sat a hand over his shoulder. "He's not wrong. Their leader is one slippery little fucker and I have to commend him for being hard to find," Her red and steel Scout helmet stared right into the soul of the blonde. "But you know something? I like a challenge."

The blonde Insurrectionist kept silent.

"Sit tight, boys," Celestina folded her arms across her chest. "UNSC personnel will be here shortly to take you all into custody. Don't worry about your friends - we didn't kill them. They're just... seemed a little grumpy so they're taking a nap."

"Not you guys though," Dominick said as he pulled a chair up, flipped it around and straddled it. "Oh no, no. It'll be a while before those UNSC guys show up," He took a seat next to Jun. "How about we all have a nice little conversation about what's going on here?"

"This place is _way_ too small and has _way_ too little people to be the headquarters of the Beaumontia Rebel Association. So where's your main base? If you tell me that this _is_ the main base, be prepared for some ugly laughter coming from me." Celestina said.

"Like we're telling you freaks anything!" One of the 4 suddenly spat out, albeit his tone shaking.

"I believe the lady asked you _nicely_ , pal," Dominick looked right at him.

"It's alright," She waved it off. "None of our business anyways. We've done our jobs. So let's just play the waiting game."

* * *

 **Location: Rooftops, AMBER Base  
Beaumontia, Epsilon Eridani system  
15** **th** **March  
4:23am **

"I take it you didn't sleep last night."

"No, princess. Did you have a good rest though?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Celestina met up with her teammate who was standing over the railing. She curled up under his right arm, letting go of a big sigh. "Oh, Beaumontia's moon never fails to amaze me. Too bad the Sun's comin' up soon."

"There'll be more nights for us to romance," Jun said causally, inciting a giggle from his team leader. "Quite the night we had, didn't we?"

"Same old, same old, if you ask me. We've retrieved weapons before."

"But we just can't find Jamie Oliver."

She gave an irritated groan at that. "I personally believe we're gonna get close to him soon. He and his minions are going down. These Innies wanna protest, that's fine. Just don't take innocent lives… Sometimes I think they're no better than the Covenant."

"All the more reason to take them down. And we will find Oliver. It's only a matter of time. We're making his operation a little difficult, aren't we?" He ran his hand up and down her arm in comfort.

"DAMN straight! We're just a couple of troublemakers!"

His response was a hearty chuckle.

"Hey," She called to him sweetly. "At least try to get a little bit of sleep. I need my sniper on full alert always."

"Your sniper is _always_ on full alert. Don't ever doubt that. But like you said, sleeping is a bit of a problem. I could however, use a lullaby." He requested, smiling down at her.

That easily earned a beaming smile from the female Spartan. Celestina snuggled up by his chest and began to sing her honeyed tone. _"Just take my hand and we'll go anywhere you want. We can leave it all behind. I'll be the one you call 'hero'."_

* * *

 **A/N: Content taken from chapter 4 of Love at Long Range (Version 1)!  
**


	7. Augmentations

**Halo - Love at Long Range**

* * *

 **Location: UNSC Hopeful  
2536**

"With respect, sir, as team leader, it's my job to ensure that my teammates are alright."

"And they _are_ going to be alright."

"Boss, you _can't_ ask me to leave him."

"You're not leaving him, Celestina."

"It sure does feel like it!"

"Celestina, you can barely stand on your feet right now!" Lieutenant Kurt Ambrose retorted, trying his very best to talk some sense into his young Spartans.

"I don't think she cares, Lieutenant. Ow…" Dominick grasped his side, his other hand attempting to hold onto his crutch.

A sigh left the nose of the Lieutenant as he was at a loss at what to do with her. The answer was clear as day to him, but he certainly did not want to make a habit of it. Defeated, he ultimately said, "Alright. But I expect the two of you to be in recovery as soon as you're done visiting him."

Kurt would never see a brighter smile than the one coming from 12-year-old Celestina. "Sir! Thank you, sir!" She brought her right hand up for a salute, only for her entire arm to fall to her side. _Well, that was a pathetic salute…_

"Go on." Kurt told her with a smile.

Celestina and Dominick turned to walk (or hobble,rather) towards the recovery bay to visit their teammate, leaving the Lieutenant and Franklin Mendez, who had been silent throughout the conversation.

"At this rate, she'll kill herself." Mendez remarked.

"At this point, I don't think she cares," Kurt, replied, watching as the 2 Spartans limped and shambled over to the recovery units. "All she's ever been concerned about was the well-being of her teammates."

* * *

"Jun?"

Entering the recovery unit, they found the sniper of Team Phantom squirming in silent agony as he was hooked up to a few bio monitors, as well as a chemo-therapeutic infuser. When Celestina was able to open her eyes after all those drugs had been pumped into her system, the first thing she asked for was her teammates – only to be informed about Jun's complications with the augmentations.

She had to wait impatiently for at least a week before she could even stand on one of her legs.

Celestina hurried over to the right side of the bed and used the side rail to support herself, seemingly forgetting about the fact that she had just underwent a series of painful augmentation procedures. "Hey, Jun. It's us."

"Man, do you look like shit." Dominick commented as he plopped himself onto a chair on the left side of the bed, unable to stand any longer.

"Shut up, Nick…" Came a faint, pained reply. "W-what are… you two… doing here…?" No matter how much Jun wanted to, he could not stop writhing in his bed. His wrists had already been restrained in an effort to hold him down, after his violent outburst once the drugs were injected into his system.

"Shh…" She hushed him gently, one hand running over his head. "No need to strain yourself. It's alright, sweetie. We're here now."

"And that's all that matters, buddy." It took an incredible amount of energy for Dominick to place his left hand over Jun's, but the assassin managed it.

Celestina continued to stroke his head in a comforting manner. " _Don't fall away. I'll help you to sing again_ ,"

She saw that Jun had stopped clenching his fists, and instead let them relax.

" _It'll be alright. I'll keep you safe and sound._ "

She heard his breathing soften and quieten with each word she sang.

" _Just take my hand and we'll go anywhere you want. We can leave it all behind. I'll be the one you call 'hero'._ "

* * *

 **A/N: Celestina's lullaby is a full song! Find it on YouTube:  
/watch?v=YogR0_NEjsc**


	8. Always

**Halo - Love at Long Range  
Location: Rooftops of Cutlass Bass  
August 28** **th** **, 2552**

"I'm sorry about Kat."

He let a sigh seep through his nose before asking his question. "What are you doing here?"

"Do you really have to ask, sweetie?" She questioned as she strolled up and down the solid railing her partner was sitting on, as if she was walking on a tightrope.

Jun glanced over his shoulder, where Celestina was. "I guess not."

"Goddamn, did I miss you," She sighed, a beaming grin across her face, even though Jun was unable to see it due to his back facing her. Clicking her tongue, she surprised him with a tackling hug from behind, enveloping her arms around him. "Aren't you gonna tell me the same?" She asked sweetly, peering over his shoulder.

He shuddered slightly in her arms. The feeling of her arms around him was tantalizingly familiar, almost the real deal. "I think you already know the answer. You don't need me to say it."

"Jun-"

"You need to leave," He told her, their lips dangerously close. "Can't exactly be seen talking to someone that's not there, can I?"

"Is it really a bad thing, sweetie? Talking to me?" She questioned. "Do you really want to forget the sound of my voice?" She said into his ear. "Or my touch on your skin?" She ran a finger up his right forearm.

He wanted to rejoinder. He really did. It was proving to be a challenge, considering that she was right.

Celestina jumped off the railing and went to Jun's front. "You still remember the day Nicky and I visited you in recovery? I don't think I've ever seen you in so much pain," She pulled herself up onto the railing and instead crawled into his lap, much to his reluctance. "But I made it all better, didn't I? With my brother's lullaby?" She took both of his hands and wrapped them around her.

"You did…" Even her hair smelt the same. _All from my memories of her_ ¸ he thought.

"You need to stop blaming yourself for what happened to me. It's been 3 years. And the fault wasn't even yours." She said against his chest.

He exhaled at that, seemingly tired of hearing it. "Even the hallucination of you thinks that way. You're my team leader, and I couldn't even save you."

"I wasn't in a position to be saved."

"Neither was I."

"Come on, sweetie. Don't be like that." She requested in her soft tone, rendering him silent. "You think I'd want you to be this way?"

Jun looked into her hazel eyes momentarily, before peeling his arms away from her and gently pushing her away. "You're not real."

She gave him a small smile at that. "Does it matter, _amore_?"

He allowed a short laugh, though faked, to emerge upon hearing the last word she spoke. "You rarely speak in Italian."

With another one of her grins, she reached up to cup his right cheek, just where his tattoo was. "But you like it when I do."

His blue eyes fluttered to a close upon the physical contact. "I do." He breathed, and was struggling to get his next words out. Yet, he knew he needed to, for the sake of his sanity. "But Misha was right."

Celestina halted her action of stroking his cheek.

"Maybe it's time to say goodbye. No point holding onto something I can't fix."

She did not say anything in response. All she did was study his face with her hazel eyes, almost as if she knows he had more to say.

"I can't fix what happened to you, no matter how much I want to." He continued.

Jun expected some sort of retaliation, some disagreement. Instead, he was met with a soft peck on his cheek, just under his eye. "I loved you, you know."

"No, princess," He removed her hand from his face and shook his head slightly. "Wherever you are… I know you'll always love me. And the feeling's mutual. I just wish you yourself could know that."

Celestina kept her smile as she listened intently to his words.

"Because I never told you. That I loved you. I never said it much because I tend I made it pretty obvious, and words like that aren't so easy to leave a Spartan's lips. But still, I never said it enough, and now look where we are now."

"Despite being conversational, you've never really needed words for me to know how much you love me," With one final smile, she pushed herself off the railing to exit the rooftops via the stairway. "Rest up, sweetie. There's only 4 of you left now. A much bigger storm is coming and you need to be there for the rest of the team."

Jun watched her as she disappeared into the darkness of the stairwell, wondering if it would be the last time he would ever come face-to-face with his demons.


	9. Hope Relay

**Halo - Love at Long Range**

* * *

 **Location: Hope Relay, Outskirts of the town of Hope  
Planet: Dolor  
Cyngus system  
February 3rd, 2549  
8:23am**

 _It's been a while since I've operated in board daylight. I'm either working my way through the ranks of an Innie organization or infiltrating a Covie base._

 _Well, it wasn't like Phantom had something else to do. We brought down Oliver all those years ago, recused more civilians from the carnage left behind by Innies and Covvies. And now we're back here: on Dolor._

 _Where I lost Yuri 8 years ago._

"Well, shit..." Celestina-A178 stopped at her objective, after taking the long walk from where the Falcon had dropped her off. The stroll over to the relay definitely gave her time to reflect, something which she left she had needed for a while now. "Well, here's the relay - at least... what's left of it..."

The Lieutenant observed the demolished communications relay as its large satellite dish was in pieces on the ground in front of them. Her surroundings consisting of nothing but the relay in a large grassy area. The sun was burning high in the sky. The town of Hope was miles away from the communications relay.

 _Well... At least we know why the UNSC failed to connect with this relay station. It's been completely barbecued. Ha, I think 'barbecued' is a polite way to put it…_ She glanced up at the damaged base, inspecting remains of the tower. _How is the rest of it still standing, though?_

She took the first steps towards the pieces. _The rebels put in a lot of effort to take it down. Maybe we should stop underestimating them…_ Her soft hazel eyes then widened. "Oh fuck me... This is plasma damage...Hope. The UNSC needs to get those people out of that town!"

Celestine attempted to get in touch with command when something in the corner of his eye. However, her motion tracker came up blank, making her forehead crease with worry.

 _Looks like I'm not alone._

She spun around immediately, fishing out both SMGs from their holsters. She tried her hardest to find the similar glossiness that came from the active camouflage of an Elite.

She snapped her head to the left and to the right over and over again. "Come out, you bitch! Or bitches," She added after a pause, still eyeing her motion tracker. "What's the matter? You scared?"

She shut her eyes and took in a deep breath in order to listen out for their heartbeats. She needed to invoke the training that Ambrose had her take when she was younger – in social engineering and reading people. She need to take this slow.

"Come on. What harm can a good little girl like me… DO?!"

She fired her SMGs to her right, completely and utterly catching an Elite off guard.

Celestina saw the energy sword flicker to life to her left and with the first Elite distracted, she reached up and kicked the Zealot square in the face. When it staggered backwards, she unloaded her two SMGs into it, breaking through its shields and killing it.

Tossing aside her weapons aside, she grabbed the sword arm of the first oncoming Zealot and jerked it, causing the Elite to lose possession of the energy sword. Two punches to its face and it was seeing stars. Celestina pulled out the combat knife from her right shoulder and stuck it into the Zealot's neck.

Silence surrounded her now. It was the female Spartan, the two dead Zealots and the destroyed Hope Relay. Nothing was moving on their motion trackers and nothing was moving around them.

 _I wish I knew if I was clear for sure. Son of a bitch. How did this happen?! Fuck, does it matter now? Top priority is warning the planet. We can't let another planet fall! I need to head back home._

* * *

 **A/N: Content taken from Love at Long Range (Version 1), chapters 10 and 11!**


	10. Caught

**Halo - Love at Long Range**

* * *

 **Location: Observation Deck, CRIMSON Base  
** **Planet: Dolor  
** **Cyngus system  
** **February 3rd, 2549  
** **11:48am**

"You alright, baby girl?"

"I am! Felt damn good to take down those Elites."

"You sure you're okay?" Jun asked immediately.

"The doctors checked me out, Celestina said as she turned to him. "I'm fine! Besides, they didn't even lay a scratch on me. And as much as I adore your concern for me, I have our next mission objective from Shadow Actual."

The boys reluctantly obeyed their team leader, which Dominick questioning, "What did Campbell say?"

"Destroy a Covenant Citadel that has begun to make its home at the outskirts of the town of Azelia. We will have to place two remote detonator charges at the base to destroy it."

"Sounds easy enough. We going in tonight?"

"Yep. So get ready, boys."

* * *

 **Location: Unknown Covenant Vessel  
4** **th** **September, 2552  
Time unknown **

" _We can leave it all behind. I'll be the one you call hero."_

The lyrics left his lips softly, in what was almost like a whisper. He was all he could get out at the moment as well. He wished she was here. To sing him the song.

Jun could not tell how long he had been in captivity. He did not know Reach's status, where the rest of Noble Team were at the moment. He could only hope that they were okay.

"Don't think you've thought about me in months, have you, you enormous tattooed baby?"

He would identify that snotty tone anywhere. With his face and body pressed against the cold ground of the holding cell, he managed with, "Dominick. Even in my head, you're as annoying as ever."

Jun caught a smirk coming from the man. The figure replied with, "Come on. Get your ass up."

"What for?"

"Spartans don't fall. And even if they do, they get right back up," Dominick took a step forward and kneeled before his fallen teammate. "Get up or I'm gonna sit on you."

"You used to do that when we were kids. Whenever you were mad at me." Came a weak reply.

"Alright, come on. Let's get your ass up." Dominick grabbed him by the shoulders, attempting to lift him up. "Come on, J," Jun used whatever upper body strength he had to sit up, with the help of Dominick. He leaned against the wall of the detention cell. "There we go. Hey," Jun received a few light slaps to his cheeks. "You with me, man? If you think you're dying in this dump, you're wrong. You're gonna get out of here, or you're gonna die trying. I'd prefer if it was the former, thank you."

Jun managed a little laugh, followed by a pained sigh. The stinging in his side would not subside.

"Noble should be onboard the _Autumn_ right now, or maybe they're still fighting somewhere on Reach. They're gonna need help, if that's the case. You just gonna sit here and wither away? You've got people who need you, man."

"Wouldn't you say I'm a little bit useless at the moment, Nick?"

"Come on, J," Dominick beckoned. "At least try to survive for _her_."

The sniper faked another chuckle. "What a fantastic job I did protecting your baby girl, huh?"

"You're stronger than this," Dominick told him, ignoring his teammate's question. "You give up now? You know you're giving up on her."

They both knew who the assassin was referring to. "Nick…"

"Then prove me wrong, asshole!" He chided. "Pull yourself together and try to find a way to get out of this!"

Jun did not reply. He looked up at his teammate, the one he had not seen in years. That was when a smile came to his battered face. "It _is_ good to see you again."

A smirk formed on Dominick's face. He reached out and patted his head comfortingly. "I know, buddy."


	11. Baby Girl

**Halo - Love at Long Range**

* * *

 **Location: Hope Relay, Outskirts of the town of Hope  
** **Planet: Dolor  
** **Cyngus system  
** **February 4** **th** **, 2549  
** **12:57am**

Beaumontia's moon hung over the base, bathing it with his luminous glow. The Covenant Citadel was located next to a lake, with the only access point being a downward ramp. The base was also surrounded by cliffs of different heights. The three Spartans stood over the tallest cliff that loomed over the base, studying the patrol patterns of the guards. Trying to accomplish this missions using stealth was going to be a great challenge. With the base still setting up, there was no doubt that the Covenant soldiers were going to be on high alert.

High-ranking Elites and two groups of Grunts were strolling all around the base. Jackals took sniper positions on the lower cliffs. This was the same situation as yesterday and the day before.

Celestina turned her head to her two team members. "We need a plan and it needs to be a damn good one. Boys?"

"A good ol' fashion distraction?" Dominick coined. "It just takes one of us to throw them off."

"True, but not while those snipers are around," Jun said.

"Alrighty then. Nicky and I will take out the snipers and Jun, once we give you the green light, you cause the distraction. We'll do whatever it takes to plant the charges and meet up with you later."

* * *

"You ready to start a firefight, baby girl? Those snipers were just a warm-up."

"Really, now? Well, I hope we're gonna keep score."

"You can take the Grunts, if you'd like."

"Such a gentleman, Nicky."

"Thank you!" The assassin smiled cheekily behind his brown-colored CQB helmet. "Jun should be providing our distraction right about..."

A collection of frag grenades exploded about a short distance from the front of the base. All alien heads snapped to the direction of the noise.

"That's it! Let's go!"

Dominick got the jump on the nearest Brute while Celestina tossed a grenade at the nearest of the two groups of Grunts. She hopped off the cliff she was on and fired her twin Sub-machine Guns at the second group. Once that was done, she hurried to assist her teammate with the remaining Brutes. She tossed one of her two combat knives at a Brute and emptied her SMGs into another.

The area seemed… clear. There was not another alien in sight.

That feeling of uneasiness made its home in Celestina's gut. _Why_ _only_ _have five Brutes, two groups of Grunts, Jackal and Elites snipers to guard a Citadel in construction? Should there not be more? Like high-ranking Elites on the ground, instead of_ _just_ _the low-ranking ones in sniper positions?_

"Come on, let's plant those charges." Dominick's order tore her away from her troubles thoughts.

They planted the two charges on opposite sides of the Command Center of the Citadel. The charges were supposed to be enough to destroy the base entirely and send a message to the Covenant on Beaumontia. There was no way another planet was going to fall to them.

"You have the detonator?" Celestina questioned, once she hooked up the charge.

"Guarding it with my life," He told her. "Now come on. Let's get out of here."

"Race you!"

They ran past the front of the base, heading for the ramp that would take them to their meeting point. That was when two cloaked Elites revealed themselves, blocking the ramp - Special Operations Elites.

The two Spartan stopped dead in their tracks, only to realize that two more were standing right behind them.

Dominick and Celestina were pointing their Pistol and twin SMGs respectively at the two Elites in front of them. All of the Elites responded with a collection of Energy Swords, Plasma Rifles and Carbines. The female Spartan was the first one to break the silence. "What the _fuck_?"

"It's a trap," Dominick said stoically. "You guys know that this is not going to end well, right? We can fire, you can fire. Either way, we'll all die." _Jun knows he can't do anything. One shot and bullets and plasma are gonna start flying. None of us will make it out alive._

"There is no way out of this, humans," One of two Elites in front of them, standing in front of Dominick wielding an Energy Sword, said. "Surrender now for inquisition."

"You're crazy if you think we're doing that. Four of you against the two of us? Hardly seems like a fair trade, isn't it?" Celestina's mind ran wild, trying to come up with a plan.

"You failed to include the… assassin you have hidden within the cliffs," The other Elite, standing before Celestina, then spoke, his voice even more gravelly than the first one.

Dominick kept his composure, but he knew for a fact that Celestina will struggle if that Elite mentioned anything more. "What assassin?"

"He has already been eliminated. If you wish to suffer the same fate, then by all means, attack." The first Elite was practically taunting them.

Hazel eyes widened in complete shock. _Jun?_ The grips on her SMGs loosened, however they then tightened again. She knew she could not let her feelings for her teammate get in the way.

"They're lying, baby girl. A trick to lower our guards. Jun is fine. He's probably slapping around whatever's attacking him."

"Make your choice, humans. Live? Or die?"

Immediately after that statement, soft static poured through their internal helmet speakers. _"Guys? Are you there?"_

That was when Celestina's eyes lit up.

 _"I've got eyes on your position. Nick, I'm gonna get the Elite on your six. After which, it's weapons free. I can't see any other way out of this."_

Celestina sucked in a deep breath and proceeded to lower her weapons. Dominick followed suit. "Okay," She said out loud. "Do whatever you have to do."

That shot from Jun's Sniper Rifle tore through the silence of the night and the Elite standing behind the assassin fell like a ragdoll. Celestina tossed both her SMGs at the Elite in front of her, spun around and stabbed the Elite behind her using her red combat knife.

The Spec Ops Elite that was in front of her grabbed her by the shoulder and yanked her back a few paces, pointing its Plasma Rifle at her. She ran at it, her shields taking the plasma bolts before she drove her shoulder into its midsection. They both fell to the ground, Celestina elbowed it in the face and then pulled out her black-colored combat knife and thrust it into his neck. "Stay _down_!"

Celestina then overheard a sharp grunt to her right, realizing for a split second that it was human enough to only have come from one person…

… She witnessed Dominick's armoured hands on the blade of the sword, attempting to keep that Elite from pushing its Energy Sword deeper into his side.

No sooner did she turn her head, that Elite took a sniper bullet right through the side of its head.

"Nicky!" Dominick fell to one knee, gripping his side, and Celestina rushed to him. "Oh no, no, no!"

With an incredible amount of resistance, Dominick pulled out the sword from his abdomen and tossed it aside, a curse leaving his breath. "Nicky! Nicky, it's gonna be okay! It's gonna be okay!" She re-established contact with Jun immediately on the team's COM channel. "Jun!"

"Celest, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there are couple of Phantom dropships heading to our location!" For the normally nonchalant Spartan, his accented voice was filled with slight anxiety.

"Then the... the two of you need to make a run for it..." Dominick then spoke, not without gritting his teeth at the pain.

Celestina glanced at him as if she had been slapped her across the face. "What? We're _not_ leaving you here! We can get you out!"

Dominick practically ripped off his helmet, revealing a small blood trail from the corner of his mouth. "I can distract the Phantoms, give you two enough time to run to the extraction point. Oh…" He fell to his side, to which Celestina hurried to cover his gushing wound with biofoam.

"Nicky-"

"I know you don't want to, baby girl, but you need to leave."

"I won't! I won't!" She protested as hard as her bleeding heart would allow her. "This is nothing for you! You can get up!"

He coughed, but managed to get the next words out with a smile. "My legs say otherwise…"

She froze, the tears brimming in her eyes. "WELL, I'LL CARRY YOUR STUPID ASS IF I HAVE TO! Come on!"

"I'm… only going to slow you down!" He told her, wiggling away from her grip.

She halted her action of trying to lug him onto her shoulders. "You can't... We're _family._ We grew up together! This isn't how it's supposed to be!"

"I have to, baby girl. It's the only way you two will make it out alive." He told her softly.

"So you're gonna destroy the base? Taking out the Phantoms _and_ yourself?!"

"Better to go out with a bang, right?" He reached up and placed one hand around the back of her neck. "You know the last thing I wanna do is leave the two of you, but we _need_ to complete this mission. It's got to be done! You know it, Celest," He turned his head skyward and said, "You know it too, J."

" _She's never gonna forgive you for this. Neither will I."_

"You two will. I know it," He flashed another smile. "I'm too adorable to stay mad at."

Her eyes dotted upwards to the black sky, catching sight of a few flying objects in the distance. She was running out of things to say to convince her assassin to leave with her. No - she had nothing more to say.

So Celestina pulled off her Scout helmet and leaned in to place a kiss on his forehead. "Baby girl."

"Pardon?"

"Your name for me… is _not_ 'Celest'. It's 'baby girl'," She said through gritted teeth, trying to consume her grief. "And I'll be damned if my real name is the last thing I hear you say."

For that, she received the last smile she would never see from her assassin. Her brother. "Love ya, baby girl." He then reached around his neck and pulled off his dogtags, placing them into her left hand.

She pressed the detonator into his free hand and closed his fist. "I know, Nicky."

She stood up, shoved her Scout helmet back on, and ran like her life had depended on it.

* * *

 **A/N: Content taken from Love at Long Range (Version 1) – Chapter 17!**


	12. Disappear

**Halo - Love at Long Range**

* * *

 **Location: Rooftops,** **CRIMSON Base  
Planet: Dolor  
Cyngus system  
February 7** **th** **, 2549  
12:57am**

"Finally caught you."

No sooner had those words reached her ears, she hurried away from the railing of the rooftops to take the other stairwell exit.

"You haven't said a single word to me ever since we met up at the extraction point 3 days ago!" Jun exclaimed, and despite the fact it did indeed startle Celestina, she continued to walk away. "Now call me selfish but I think I've waited long enough! Will you _please_ just talk to me?!"

He exhaled a sigh of defeated as she disappeared into the stairwell, having failed to initiate a conversation with his team leader. He slumped his upper body over the railing, sighing.

"What do you want me to say, Jun?" Her soothing voice came from his right. "I don't think I've even fully processed what went down."

"Let's deal with it together, then. Like we always have," Jun took a few more steps towards her. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I just… didn't know what was going through your mind."

"You were worried about me," She said, glancing down at her feet, Dominick's dogtags in her hands. "I didn't mean to ignore you. I was just…"

"Tell me," Jun urged. "That's the whole point right now."

"I was wondering if you were blaming me for what happened to Nicky. Whether you were disappointed in me."

"Why would I be disappointed in you?" He questioned.

She gave him a look that said the answer was greatly obvious. "Because I was _right there._ And I didn't save him."

"I was there too. You ever thought that maybe I'd be blaming myself?"

She tilted her head at him without a word - a sign for him to explain.

"I should have taken the shot quicker. It would have saved his life."

"Oh no. No, no," She pressed her hands against his chest to stop him from potentially continuing any further. "That was _so_ not the case and you know it. You're amazing behind the scope but one wrong move and you could have missed. Or worse, hit Nicky."

"Celest," He peeled her hands off his chest. "You don't have to come up with excuses for me."

"And _you_ don't have to come up with excuses for _me_! You were miles away, _I_ was right next to him."

"I still don't understand how you can say it's your fault. You were up against SpecOps Elites. 4 of them. Anything could have happened."

She hesitated with her response, mainly because it was what she felt that her surviving teammate was driving towards. "So you're saying that it was a mistake?"

"I meant…" That was not how Jun would have put it, especially when it sounded so negligent. He certainly did not want Celestina to feel worse about herself. "I'm saying that Dominick would not want us to feel responsible for what happened for the rest of our lives. Not when there's still a war going on."

Celestina knew Dominick. He was practically her brother, filling the shoes that were left empty when she lost her family, including her older brother, Caden. Dominick was ruthless on the field, a hazard to any enemy that stood in his way. Non-Spartan personnel feared the man even if he was out of this armor, what with his striking green eyes and menacing walk.

Yet, he had the softest of spots of his team leader, his Lieutenant, his baby girl. He constantly teased her about Jun, picked stupid fights that usually ended up with her sitting on top of him in a crushing victory.

She knew him. She knew him well. So she should have known that Dominick would want them to carry on.

She shook her head disappointingly and turned her gaze upwards to the black sky. "How stupid was I to think that one day, the 3 of us could retire, when we're old and gray?"

"It's not stupid," Jun told her gently, squeezing her shoulder. "In fact, it's something only you would think of, one Nick and I would agree with."

She remained silent, her eyes observing at each star that she could see.

"Come on, princess," He ran his hand up and down her back. "If you're sad, then Dominick is just going to come back from the dead and slap me upside my head and blame me for it. Goodness knows he's always blamed me for your periods of sadness."

Upon hearing that, she produced a sincere giggle. "It was mostly out of humor. And to get on your nerves."

"Indeed." He gave his own chuckle.

Her smile disappeared gradually like smoke, as she attempted to get her words out. "It's been 3 days. I know he's gone. But… but I still think that he's gonna walk around the corner with his big stupid smile. Or… or that I'm gonna hear him call me 'baby girl'." She buried her face into her hands,

Jun immediately pulled her into his arms, with her head on his shoulder. "He was our brother…" He heard her whimper.

He stroked her red hair comfortingly; it was also an attempt to keep himself from bawling as well. "He's always gonna be. I'll miss him too."


	13. Fallen

**Halo - Love at Long Range**

* * *

 **Location: Dorms,** **CRIMSON Base  
Planet: Dolor  
Cyngus system  
February 16** **th** **, 2549  
2:25am**

"I asked for a _brawl_ , Jun! Not a waltz! The FUCK was that shit show?!"

"You expect me to hit you? You know for a fact that I would never put my hands on the princess for whatever reason."

"Really fuckin' romantic. Really. I appreciate it. But come _on_! I need to hit something and it's gotta be you!"

"Now _that_ ," Jun rested his back against the headboard of his head. "That's not very romantic."

Celestina placed her hands on her hips as she stood in front of him, still enraged. "UGH. You're the only one who can take a punch from a Spartan and live!"

"And let you mess up my face? You're the one who told me to get the tattoo!" He retorted.

She fell silent and bit her lower lip, averting her gaze from him. "It was bet you lost. Besides, I _really_ didn't think you'd actually do it…"

He smiled up at her, their silly argument having come to an end. "A deal was a deal, Celest. Besides, I'm glad I got it in the end."

"Hm…" She settled herself onto his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck as she pressed her temple against his forehead. "One for each member of Team Phantom," She then traced one finger over the tattoo. "Wish Nicky was here so I could brawl with him."

"He always did have a punchable face."

"Let it be known that I don't agree to that."

A distant explosion halted their laughter and they exchanged looks of uncertainty and confusion.

"What the hell was that?"

It was followed by a long wailing scream that tore through the night. The sirens.

"We're under attack?" Jun struggled to push herself off the bed frame.

 _"All personnel: this is not a drill. Evacuate the base immediately. Repeat: this is not a drill."_

"What the _fuck_?"

"Gotta be the Covenant. Our armor-"

"I don't think we have time! They're closing in!"

"Not a problem for us, right? We've handled worse."

" _Damn_ straight! Let's give them an ass-kicking they'll never forget."

* * *

 **Location: Rooftop,** **CRIMSON Base**

"Times like this, I wish we were in our armor! HOW did the Covenant find us?!" Celestina then shouted a little louder, "Come on, you guys! Move it!"

"One problem at a time, Celest," Jun glanced through the scope of his sniper rifle. "I've got eyes on two more phantoms."

" _Two_? SHIT."

That made it the fourth phantom thus far. The first two dropped its garrison a good distance away from AMBER base and used its plasma cannons to destroy the fences surrounding the base, just enough for the Covenant to enter and start killing. Celestina and Jun had been escorting the base's technicians to the pelicans so that they could escape.

They were worried about the two phantoms - whether they would play a part in the escape of the pelicans. And the base turrets were getting demolished by the second.

"Jun, get a rocket launcher from the armory and see if you can take down those phantoms! I'm heading down the pelicans and see if I can help with the evac!"

"By _yourself_? Without your _armor_?" He questioned, almost horrified at her statement. "The turrets are getting them!"

The Spartans jolted when a turret to their left burst into flames, sparks flying everywhere.

"… You were saying, genius?!" She exclaimed.

"Celest-"

"That's an order, Jun! I'll be fine really!"

Jun instead pressed his sniper rifle into her hands and replies with, "Please be careful."

"Always."

* * *

"Get these pelicans moving! Go, go, go!" Celestina screamed over the gunfire. Bullets and plasma were flying everywhere. The Lieutenant struggled to keep the pelicans safe from ground forces while Banshees were giving her trouble from above. That was when the sniper rifle that Jun left her proved to be a huge help.

The last pelican finally took off, leaving Celestina to finally breathe a little... until that pelican exploded in mid-air.

"SHIT!" Celestina dived into the dirt, dropping the rifle to shield her head. "No!" On her knees, she turned her head to see the burning pieces of the pelican. "No, no, no!"

Another phantom. And it was facing in her direction.

That was when two shots from a Rocket Launcher landed on it. Jun was doing his part, and the Covenant aircraft was in slight disarray.

Celestina waited for more shots, but they never came. "Come on, Jun... Could use a little bit of help here..."

By then, the Phantom had regained control and sent bolts from its plasma cannons to Celestina's direction. "Oh shit! Fuck!" She made tracks for the interior, barely grazed by the shots. She had already received a nasty slice on her upper left arm from an energy sword wielded by an Elite on the ground. No way was she getting any more burns.

Now to find Jun.

Drawing her lone magnum pistol, Celestina hastened to meet him at the rooftop, where he had been firing that rocket launcher at phantoms. For some reason, he had stopped and Celestina needed to find out why.

Bursting through the door leading to the rooftops, she got her answer: Jun, armed with a lone combat knife, was engaged in combat with two energy sword-wielding Elites.

"HEY!"

It worked: the two Elites had become distracted by Celestina's fearless cry, giving Jun the chance to stab one of the two Elites in the back and shove it into Celestina's direction so she could finish it off. In retaliation, the other grabbed Jun and tossed him to the ground.

Celestina grabbed the wounded Elite by its chest plate and tossed it onto the ground, digging her foot onto the back of its head. With much swiftness, she reached for Jun's combat knife and plunged it deep into the back of its head, only satisfied when it stopped struggling.

Her ears picked up a thud and she spotted the remaining Elite on top of her team member, who was attempting to stop the energy sword from penetrating his neck.

"Get _off_ him!" She screeched, tackling the Elite right off him. She gave it a head-butt, dug her magnum into the side of its head and pulled the trigger. "And stay down…" She growled.

"Celest!" Jun lunged forward, grabbing Celestina by her waist and getting the both of them clear of the plasma grenade tossed by the newly arrived Brutes, who descended from the phantom high above.

The grenade exploded, tossing concrete onto the Spartans and as they attempted to get back to their feet.

"THESE FUCKTARDS ARE BLOWING UP MY FUCKING ROOFTOP!" She put a bullet into the head of one Brute. She witnessed the other taking aim at Jun with its spiker. She fired.

 _Click._

It was empty.

"Oh God!" She whimpered. The Brute took aim at Jun, who was still shaking off the effects of the grenade.

"NO!" As hard as she could, she pushed her teammate away. Immediately, where two spiker shots had pierced her upper left shoulder. She staggered back, another round went into her abdomen, one more to the center of her chest. Thrown at the railing, she went over, a last-ditched attempt that grabbing the railing having failed.

Her screams were so loud that Jun heard it crystal clear. "Celest, NO!" He threw his upper body over the railing, in time to witness her connect with the ground.

From behind him, Jun heard the roar of the remaining Brute Minor as it was charging towards him. He stepped to the side, spun around and slammed the Brute's head onto the railing until there was a visible dent. With the Brute bleeding profusely, Jun clutched it by the neck and before snapping it, he said through gritted teeth, "Go to hell."

* * *

"Celestina!" Jun came to a stop at her body, halting his wanting to lift her when he saw the pool of blood beneath her head, the blood trailing from the side of her mouth, and her closed eyes. "No… no…!" He whimpered. "No, this isn't happening!"

"I NEED HELP! SPARTAN DOWN!" Jun shouted as the top of his lungs as he tore off his shirt and bundled it up so he could place it under her head to stop the bleeding the best he could. She then coughed, blood splattering onto Jun as she struggled for air. The Covenant may have been gone from this base that he called home but they had left behind too much chaos for anyone to hear Jun's screams for help.

"I'm gonna try to move you, okay?" As gently as he could, he lifted her onto his lap, one hand firmly under her head. The movement caused a cry of agony from Celestina. "I know, I know, princess." He hushed her. He had no clue what kind of internal injuries she had suffered. Broken bones, for one. "Why did you do it, Celest? Why did you save me?"

Celestina tried to speak, but only gasps would leave her throat as she fought to keep her eyes open and focused on his face.

"I need you to keep your eyes open for me, okay? Can you do that for me, princess?"

She could not reply, even if she desperately wanted to. All she could manage were the coughs that told him she was trying to cling onto whatever air she had left in her lungs. "I'm gonna pick you up, and we're gonna get you some help, okay? You just keep your eyes on me."

Jun then felt something brushing against his abdomen – it was her frail hand, struggling to travel to his cheek. He understood her action and pressed her bloodied hand against the side of his face.

He could sworn there was a faint smile on her full lips, before her eyes fluttered to a close, and her hand fell.

"Celest! Hey! Keep your eyes on me! Hey! Celest!" He called out with a few light pats to her bloodied cheek. " _Celestina_!"

As much as he begged for her to do so, the princess never reopened her eyes.

* * *

 **A/N: Been waiting to do this chapter. Content taken from LaLR (Version 1), Chapter 13!**


	14. Aftermath

**Location: Rooftops of Cutlass Bass  
Planet: Reach  
Cyngus system  
August 28** **th** **, 2552  
10:50pm**

"You look like you've seen a ghost, Three."

It had just been roughly half an hour since Jun's encounter with Celestina, where he attempted to say goodbye to the pain of losing her. He wanted to believe that it went well, but that was yet to be seen. "I'm fine, Six. It's been a rough few weeks. How about you?"

"I'll live."

 _Indeed you will_. Jun did, however, spot the wistful look in her green eyes. "Like I told you in the bunker – there was nothing you could have done for Kat. You need to let it go." He said as he leaned against the solid railing.

"Hm, like you let Celestina go?" Misha retorted with a scoff. "You're the one who's clinging onto a dead Spartan."

Her last statement caused the sniper to tilt his head at her, and promptly answer with, "She's not dead."

She jerked her head back, eyebrows knotted together in confusion. "Wait, what?"

"I never said she died."

She then found it difficult to string words together, based on what her teammate was saying to her. "You said that she saved your life, but it cost her hers! She fell off the rooftops, for God's sake!"

"Which got her stuck in a coma."

"… WHAAAAAT?!" Misha squealed in horror. "Three, you misleading bastard!"

While it was amusing to see the Lone Wolf screech in bewilderment, Jun maintained his steeled expression. "I didn't mislead you, Six. I apologize if that was the impression I gave you."

"You made it sound like she died!"

"She's in a coma. Wouldn't you say that she's as good as dead?"

"She can wake up, you moron!" Misha planted her hands on her hips, completely and uttered done with the sniper.

"The doctors had a different opinion. She _did_ fall from the rooftops, you know. Can you imagine the trauma to her head? Even if she did wake up, which the chances were really slim, who's to say she could remember her own name?"

She let go of a sigh before speaking, trying to choose her words carefully. "That bad, huh?"

His silence was all Misha need to know that it was, indeed, bad. "2 months after her fall, she still didn't wake up. Ackerson's patience was running thin. He had me go on a couple of ops for him before Holland transferred me to Noble later that year."

"And you haven't heard anything since you left?"

He gave her the hint of a smile, before turning to lean over the railing as he spoke. "Not like anyone's gonna be nice enough to tell me now, are they?"

Misha walked up to him, hand on the railing. "Look. Celestina… is a Spartan. You can't forget that. She's strong enough to survive this."

Jun exhaled, every fiber of his being telling him that he is tired of it all. "I want to believe that. I really do. But you didn't see her in that state like I did."

* * *

 **Location: Medical Facility, Vulture Base  
Planet: Dolor  
Cyngus system  
February 17** **th** **, 2549  
12:04am**

"She's in a coma, brought on by the fall."

"So… she's okay? Just in a coma?"

"Well," The doctor swiped through his data pad like he would flip through a book. "Aside from the numerous injuries: fractured ribs, bruises to the spine, broken leg, and of course, I don't need to mention her head. But I'm expecting her to make a full recovery. As for her head…"

"Why? What's wrong with her head?" Jun questioned.

"Significant brain damage," The doctor proclaimed with a sigh, seemingly upset to deliver the news to her teammate. "Even if she does wake up - and that's a big 'if' - I'm not sure if her memory's gonna be the same. Spartan or not."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me…" He muttered under his breath, turning to observe Celestina from the window.

"We are going to do everything we can, Spartan. But only time will tell," The doctor then told him with a little smile before walking away, "You're welcome to see her."

* * *

He felt his heart drop to his stomach when, upon walking into the private room, there laid Celestina, hooked up to numerous machines with one of them helping her to breathe. Her head was wrapped in white bandages, and that was what made him look away entirely, unable to move closer to her.

 _No_. He couldn't _not_ look at her. He had to face her. He had to be with her right now; she needed him.

Even though she was not exactly saying it.

Jun finally made it to the side of her bed. He took her frail hand in a gentle grasp with both hands and whispered, "It should have been me."


	15. Team Phantom

**Location: Medical Facility, Vulture Base  
Planet: Dolor  
Cyngus system  
February 22nd, 2549  
12:02am**

"I didn't even realize that it's my birthday. If it wasn't for you," He whispered to her in a gentle tone, one hand running over her head. "You prepared a birthday message and had it scheduled to be sent to me, just in case you weren't around. Like always," Jun then grabbed a seat next to her bed, a smile on his lips. "Thanks. But I'd much rather hear the wishes coming from you."

"What am I supposed to do? I don't even have the _slightest_ clue. I could talk and talk but you're not gonna answer me. For now... I gotta believe that you'll wake up. I have to."

"In the meantime, I'll be talking. It's all I can do anyways. Um… You remember the week we first met? The day you, me, and Dominick decided that we'd be a team. Thank goodness Ambrose put us in a team anyway. I think it was the first time I ever had a real family. And it was all thanks to you two."

* * *

 **Location: Camp Currahee  
Onyx  
December 27** **th** **, 2531**

"Are you okay?" He queried, letting go of her trembling hand.

"Yeah. I think so…" Her voice was just above a whisper, as she glanced up to the black sky and back to the boy, who had just jumped with her. "Thanks for jumping with me. I thought that trainer was going to be so mad!"

"He's mean. Forget about him." He told her with a wave of his hand.

"Thanks again."

After a small pause, when it was clear that she was not going to walk away from him, he introduced himself, extending his hand. "I'm Jun, by the way."

"Oh!" She sounded genuinely surprised at his introduction, but took his hand nonetheless. "My name is Celestina."

"Celestina? That sounds like a name you're give to a princess. Are you a princess?" Jun questioned with a little gasp.

Celestina did not realize it then, but it was the first giggle she had had in weeks since her family was killed. She was about to reply when they both heard distant screaming coming from the sky above them.

"Oh no!" Celestina yelped in horror. "LAND ON YOUR FEET! DON'T FACE THE GROUND!"

"OR YOU'LL REGRET IT!" Jun added, hoping that he and Celestina's yells could reach him.

The two could see that he was gradually descending, but that did not wipe the obviously petrified look on his face. They witnessed him bringing his legs to his chest as just he landed into the arms (or bodies) of Jun and Celestina, who were prepared to catch him.

"Aw man!" Jun grunted, getting back to his feet. "Nice crash landing." He commented sarcastically as he assisted the boy in unclipping the harness from him.

"If it wasn't for you two softening my landing, I would have been toast! Thanks for that!" He said with all his heart, dusting the dirt off his outfit and dark skin.

Despite Celestina's struggle to toss the ram-air parachute off of her, she managed to squeal, "Not a problem!"

"I'm Dominick." The boy promptly introduced himself to his rescuers.

"Jun."

"Is your younger sibling July?" He questioned dryly.

"Shut up!"

"I'm Celestina." She then cut in politely.

"Whoa," His emerald eyes widened at her. "I certainly don't have a joke about that."

"Is that what you always do? Tell jokes?" She asked meekly.

"Well it's… kind of my thing," Dominick said. "Like how yours is to be pretty?"

A hue of pink colored her cheeks at that moment. "Oh um… I'm not really good at anything. I just watch a lot of movies. I like it when the people act. I don't even like guns. My family teaches people to shoot."

"Then how come you're here if you're scared?"

"I'm starting to think it was a bad idea. I couldn't even do this jumping thing. If it wasn't for Jun helping me..." She stated with a little tilt of her head towards Jun. "I just… didn't know what to do. I was so angry. My home… everything is gone. How could they? How could they do such a thing? We didn't even do anything!"

"My big sis used to say it's because they're bullies. They're just a lot meaner."

"You have a big sister, Dominick?" Celestina asked.

"I used to," Those 3 words were enough for Celestina to get a gauge of what happened. "You?"

Her eyes diverted to the ground. "Mama and Papa. Big brother Caden. Lea is my twin sister. She's 7 minutes older than me."

"They're… all gone?" She had clearly belonged to a big family. And to lose all of them…

She nodded, and then turned her head to Jun. "What about you, Jun?"

"I don't have anyone," He told her, folding his arms across his small chest. "I live in a place with other kids. Well… I used to. It's gone now. The monsters did that. I had friends. They're all gone too."

"I'm sorry." She said in a meek tone.

"Yeah, me too..." Dominick added.

"It's okay," Jun told them with a little shake of his head. "I just don't want anyone to go through what we went through."

"Well…" Dominick placed his hands on his hips in deep thought. "Maybe they don't have to. If we try to do this, become Spartans. Become big and strong like Lieutenant Ambrose! We can help other people!"

As much as that sounded like a solid plan, Jun still had to enquire, "Do you really think we can do it?"

"Maybe… if we do it together?"

"Like a team?"

"Like a team!"

Celestina glanced at Jun, and then back at Dominick, pondering all the while. "Even if we don't want to do this, I don't think any of us have homes anymore."

"We can make our own home." Dominick then said, a bright smile plastered to his tanned face.

"With each other." She added, realizing where Dominick was going.

"Princess Celestina has a point." Jun said confidently, smiling at the two of them.

A large smile came to Celestina's face at the sound of her name. "Isn't that a mouthful?" She asked with a giggle.

"Okay," Since it was, indeed, a mouthful, Jun knew the perfect way to shorten it to. "Princess."


	16. Goodbye, Princess

**Location: Celestina's ward, Medical Facility, Vulture Base  
Planet: Dolor  
Cyngus system  
April 2** **nd** **, 2549  
9:44am**

As Jun was reading the morning news on his data pad, he could not help but wonder if Celestina had heard everything he was said to her while she was in a coma. Old stories, words of comfort, anything that Jun could speak about. He had read that it was possible and therefore, he was hoping that she had listened. He needed her to know that she was not alone.

Two soft knock on the door of the ward's door caught Jun's attention. "Sir?" He turned his head to find a young male solider, who appeared to be a little nervous to open his mouth to the Spartan-III.

"Yes?"

"Private Elliot, sir. I have orders from Colonel Ackerson." He said with lift of a folded letter that he had in his hands.

Jun narrowed his eyes at him, his forehead creasing in confusion. "Orders?"

"Yes, sir,"

This was bad, especially when Jun did not exactly get along with Colonel James Ackerson. Jun had previously participated on several black operations for the man, some which had deeply affected the Spartan on a psychological level, but he did his best to shake it off. The one time Jun expressed his wanting to get out, the Colonel said– no, threatened that he would have Celestina participate in said black ops in his place. Jun could not allow that. He could not allow the princess to be used. What Ackerson wanted, Ackerson got. And he wanted Jun's skills.

"Wait for me outside, soldier,"

"Yes, sir." He nodded almost hesitantly and left Jun's sight.

As soon as the private exited, Jun stood up, leaned forward to inform the comatose Celestina, "I'll be right back, princess." He exited the room, which prompted the private to walk up to him with the letter in hand. "What's this about orders?"

"He has ordered that you report to him, sir. This is for your eyes only." Private Elliot then handed him the letter.

Jun picked it out of his hand, highly exasperated by this whole thing. "You're kidding me, right? This is some kind of sick joke. That is my _team leader_ in there and she is in a _coma_! Is Ackerson _aware_ of that fact?!"

The private appeared as if he was going to fade away from existence out of fear. "The Colonel expresses his sincerest apologies, sir. But... y-you have these orders..."

"I know..." Jun turned his head away in disappointment, wondering how he was going to go through this. "Inform the Colonel that I will be there as soon as I can."

"He will have transportation here tomorrow to take you to him, sir."

"He WHAT?!"

The Spartan's screech would have very well deafened the private, but all he managed was a squeal. "The Colonel requires that you go to him ASAP, sir! It- they're your orders!"

At that point, Jun wanted to punch something so bad. The Marine was hoping to high heaven that it was not going to be him. However, Jun instead took in a breath and let it go. "Alright. Thank you for informing me."

The private saluted and Jun gave him a nod. Private Elliot then hurried away, not wanting to get in the Spartan's way any further.

With the private gone, Jun practically stormed into Celestina's room, pacing up and down before her bed. If he had hair, he would be pulling them right out of his roots. "You are _not_ going to believe this horseshit! Ackerson, he's…!"

He halted his pacing to sigh deeply. Everything was going extremely wrong. _Everything_. He could not abandon his team leader at a time like this. He simply could not! He knew it was not entirely abandonment, but it sure as hell felt like it.

"I need to go. I know, I don't like it either," He walked up to her remorsefully. "I can't leave you in this state. I just _can't_! But… I don't exactly have a choice…" Jun took her hand into his in a tight grip, pleading for her forgiveness almost. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I need you to know that."

Jun was certain that he was going to hold a grunge against the Colonel for this. Forever, if need be.

"The transportation arrives tomorrow. Until then, I'm not leaving this room. I promise."

* * *

 **April 3** **rd** **, 2549  
7:00am**

"Sir?"

Jun got next to no sleep the night before. He wanted to hold on to her for as long as he could. There was a war going on and he needed to get to work; he just wished that it didn't involve leaving the only other family he had left.

Taking in a breath, Jun turned his head to the voice at the door. "Private Elliot." He greeted the apprehensive solider.

"T-the transport is here, sir."

He gave Private Elliot a nod and requested for him to wait outside.

Jun returned his attention to Celestina, not knowing when he was going to see her smiling face once more. "I have to believe that you'll wake up. And that you'll retain all your memories. You will, I know you will. You're stronger than you give yourself credit for," He did not realize how hard he was squeezing her hand. What he wouldn't give for her to squeeze it back.

"You know, your song's been running through my head since yesterday. The lullaby your brother used to sing to you? At least I've got something of you to hold on to."

He was out of time. "Princess… I know we'll see each other again. Maybe it won't be for a while, but… we'll see each other again." Jun then stood up from the chair. With one hand caressing her head, he leaned in to place a final kiss on her forehead.

"Goodbye, princess."


	17. Don't Go

A mad thumping in my head brought me back to consciousness. I winced, reaching behind to rub the back of my head. As if that was going to help; it felt as if I had been run over by a truck.

I pushed myself up from the ground and something dangled in front of me from around my neck. It was a set of dog tags. Dog tags? I don't even own a set. I read what was engraved on it. "Celestina… A178? What the hell does A178 mean? The fuck?"

I glanced around at my surroundings. I was in a walkway in the middle of a… jungle. This place appeared familiar to me, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

There was something attached to my right thigh – a hostler, a _gun_ holster. In it was a magnum pistol; my fingers trembled as they ran over it. I refused to fish it out and inspect it because I was afraid of guns. Despite the fact that my family ran a gun range.

I got to my feet, dusting off the dirt. There was nothing I could do except to walk. Hopefully, I would be able to find someone or something that could lead me out of this place.

Soon enough, I saw a large vehicle parked towards the end of the jungle. It was a pelican; I had seen a few flying overhead my city back home. A lone figure sat at the back of it, his face in deep concentration to whatever he was doing with his hands. He was reloaded a rifle – a sniper rifle. It was my big brother's favorite weapon.

He glanced up upon noticing my presence. It was almost as if he was anticipating my arrival. He gave me the slightest hint of a smile, and instead let his striking blue eyes do all the grinning. "Hello. Is there something I can help you with?"

I had never heard that accent before. I lived on Convergence V, and my city was home to mostly Italians. "I um… I don't know, to be honest."

"You from here?" He questioned, letting his sniper rifle lean against the seats as he rose to his feet.

"I-I don't know that either."

He strolled down the pelican's ramp to meet up with me. He was about a head taller than me. "You don't know if you're supposed to be here?"

My mouth hung open. It appeared as if I didn't know anything about _anything_.

"Look, you're obviously a little lost. Maybe I can help. I'm Jun, by the way." He introduced himself promptly, giving me his hand.

"Oh!" I was a little surprised by his extended hand, but I took it anyway. "My name is Celestina."

"Whoa. Sounds like a name you'd give to a princess."

"Really? You think so?"

He let a grin form as he answered, "I know so."

I don't think I've never heard a more smoothing voice than the one coming from this man. It was comforting, as if everything was going to be okay. "You're a sniper, I take it?" I said with a nod to his rifle.

"My specialty," He slipped his hands into the front pockets of his pants. "What about you, your Highness?"

I flashed another wide smile at that. "I wish I knew. I'm not really good at anything. I just like to watch a lot of movies. I like acting."

"Ah. Well, when you make it big, make sure you save me an autograph."

"Sure thing!" I said through my giggles. "My big brother – it's his favorite weapon too. My parents have a gun range."

"No way. That's pretty cool! What's his name?"

My big grin began to suppress into a frown as I tried my hardest to recall my big brother's name. "His name is… Um… It's…" What the hell? Why couldn't I remember my own brother's name?

"Hey, don't worry about it," He told me with his hands up. "You said you woke up here, right? Perhaps you knocked your head pretty hard. I'm sure you'll get your memory back soon."

"I hope so…" I let my head sink in disappointment.

"Hey," He softly called out, prompting me to glance up at him. "Chin up, Princess Celestina."

"Celest would be just fine, Jun," I had to say it. I just had to. Maybe then I would be able to read something off his face. "Is it weird… if I say that I'm getting this feeling, this assurance, that I can trust you?"

He took a moment to tilt his head at me. "Do you now?"

"Have we met before?"

"I'd remember the face of a princess."

If he was hoping at his little flirts were going to throw me off, he was right, because I was having trouble concentrating on the bigger picture here – like what this place was. "So… where exactly am I?"

"Camp Currahee," Jun answered, scanning the jungle around us. "It's where I trained to be a Spartan."

"Spartan? Trained? That sounds dangerous!"

"Well, it's all we've ever known. Ever since the Covenant destroyed our homes."

"We?"

"My teammate. Come on, I'll introduce you. Maybe he can help out too. Come on." Jun held out his hand to me, which I decided to take. He slipped my arm in between his and began to lead me past the pelican and towards the end of the jungle. I could not see it at first, but there were a bunch of large boulders scattered around, and there was a figure sitting on top of one of them.

He turned his attention away from the stars above to us. He was African-American, with striking green eyes and a bright smile. "'Sup, J? Who's your friend?"

"This is Celestina. This is Dominick."

"Oh, what's up, baby girl?" He said with a nod.

I blushed furiously once more.

"What brings you in this neck of the woods?"

"She can't seem to remember," Jun told him. "Maybe we can help her out."

Dominick shrugged his shoulders at that. "Not like we have anything else better to do. Sure. How can we help?"

"Well, you told me what this place was. Do… do the two of you know me? Know anything about me?"

"You don't know anything at all?"

"My head's all fuzzy from whatever it is that happened to me."

"Okay, so let's start with that you _do_ know."

"Okay um," I drew in a deep breath and quickly let it out. "My name is Celestina Donatelli. I was born on Convergence V. I have 2 parents, 1 big brother, and a twin sister."

"Okay, and what are their names?" Dominick prompted. Jun had been silent this whole time.

Yet, I saw the corner of Jun's mouth twitch. It was probably because earlier, I could not remember my brother's name. "Leonardo and Annalisa. My sister's name is Christine, but she likes being called by her middle name, Lea."

"And your brother?"

"She couldn't remember it earlier, Dominick," Jun stepped in to answer. "But he's apparently a sniper, and her parents own a gun range."

Dominick turned his head back to me, eyes wide open. "Now THAT'S cool!"

I returned his compliment with a smile. "I can't believe that I can't remember my own brother's name. He's so awesome to me and Lea."

"He's sorta your hero, eh?"

My smile turned into a smaller one. "Hero?"

"Well, yeah,"

"No, no, I mean… 'Hero'. It's a song. Caden used to sing it as a lullaby."

For that, I received a smirk from Jun. "I take it that's your brother's name."

A short laugh popped right out of me upon realizing that for myself. I remembered my big brother's name!

"Hey, this is great work!" Dominick exclaimed cheerfully. "We're just getting started. Now let's figure out why you're here."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You think I'm a Spartan like you guys? Let's start off with the fact that I'm terrified of guns!"

"Well, I honestly can't think of any other reason why you'd be here."

"Well… that would explain my build. I thought I was part of some wacky experiment."

"I think the word you're looking for is 'augmentations', princess." Jun said.

"That sounds scary!"

"Well, you've been through it. And you survived."

"This can't be right. I am _not_ a super-soldier! It's not in my nature!"

"Well, we don't know what else think." He said with a lift of his broad shoulders.

That was when I got reminded of the dog tags that hung around my neck, which danced each time I moved. "These dog tags - do they mean anything?"

Jun reached forward to get a closer look at them. "See that 'A'? Means you're from Alpha company, as part of the Spartan-III program."

This only drew more questions for me. "I am _not_ a Spartan!" I exclaimed, as if I had just been offended.

"You certainly agreed to be one."

"Why would I do something like THAT?"

"It's what we all did, when the Covenant destroyed everything we've ever known."

I didn't want to go there. "You're saying that…"

"Yes, princess," Jun continued his tranquil tone, wanting to make sure that I didn't have a meltdown. "You probably wanted revenge, for what they did to your home, you family."

"I _don't_ believe you! I don't-! This is-!" I grumbled under my breath. I didn't want to believe their claims. I threw my head back in irritation and that was when I got a good look at the sky. "The sky… it was as dark… as that day."

"What day?" Dominick asked after a very small pause, one that I could have easily missed.

"The day... ARGH!" I fell to my knees, hands gripping the side of my head. It felt as if my head was getting crushed between a pair of boulders. "T-the day I fell! Goddamn it…"

A face. A face was coming back to me.

With my head still throbbing, I glanced up to Jun, with a look of betrayal on my face. "You were there. I was reaching out to you as I fell. Why would you be there if I didn't know you? If _you_ didn't know _me_?"

"Now wait a minute, princess-"

"DON'T call me that! You're not allowed to call me that! Only _he_ does!"

"Who?"

"I-I don't know! The one who calls me 'princess'! A-and then there's another, he calls me 'baby girl'!"

"Okay, but who are they?"

"The 2 boys… I met… on a night this dark… One of them, we met on the pelican. He took my hand and we jumped. When we landed, he said his name was-"

My sudden silence was all Jun needed to smile warmly at me.

"A-and then, another boy landed, and his name was-" My pointed finger turned to Dominick this time.

"Looks like she finally got it." Jun proceeded to lift me up onto my feet, my shock not giving me any chance to react.

"Thank goodness. All this pretending was starting to make me feel guilty." Dominick walked up to me to run a hand over my head comfortingly.

Tears started forming in my hazel eyes. "What's happening to me…? How could I forget the two of _you_? My only family? The last thing I remember is falling!"

"We don't know what's going on, baby girl," He took me into his arms and I just clung to him. "But you'll get through it. You always do."

"What if… I'm dead? And I don't even know it?"

I felt Jun's hand running up and down my back. "Let's hope that's not the case, princess. It'll be okay."

"You should have let me helped you," I lifted my head up to him after having been pressed into his chest. "You should have let me carry you, _drag_ your stupid fuckin' ass to the extraction point! WHY didn't you LET ME?!"

"There was nothing you could have done for me."

"YES, THERE WAS, YOU STUPID SHIT!" I followed my yells with hits to his chest.

"I would have only slowed you down. You know that."

"I don't _believe_ that! Not for a second! We could have made it out together! Jun had our backs!"

"I'm sorry, baby girl, but you know that I've always had your safety in mind. No matter what, you needed to make it out."

"How am I supposed to go through the rest of my life without _you_?"

He squeezed my upper arms in an attempt to keep me calm and grounded. "You'll find a way. Besides, you've got your bald-headed boyfriend here too. I know he'll take good care of you."

It was clear to me that I was out of ways to convince him that I could have saved him. Or… convince _myself_ , rather. "I swear – I don't care what's happening to me. I won't forget the memories I have of you two."

"We know, baby girl." Equipped with his million dollar smile, he leaned in to place a kiss on my forehead. He turned his head to nod at Jun, indicating that I was all his for the time being. Nicky pulled away from me and walked right past me.

I turned to Jun, who was perched on one of those boulders, smirking at me. "I always gonna love you, you know. And I know you'll always love me too. In your own way that can only make sense to me."

"You damn right."

"I don't wanna say goodbye." I attempted to stifle a sob at the end of my sentence. "I don't wanna leave you alone! With Dominick gone…"

"Maybe this is all a bad dream. So wake up," He rose from his seat on the boulder to meet up with me. "Wake up and you won't have to worry anymore."

"What if… I don't want to wake up from this? You're here, Nicky's here," I placed both of my hands on his cheeks to emphasize my point. "We can still be the family that we've always been. Just without the fighting and the bloodshed..."

He pulled my hands away from his face to grip them instead, smiling apologetically. "If only that was actually possible, princess."

"'It could be! Right here! Wherever it is that we are!"

"You know that the three of us will always be a family, no matter where we are. There's no changing that," He told me in an assuring manner, his thumb caressing my chin. "This isn't the end. Not if you wake up."

I exhaled infuriatingly at him. "I don't know what that means, Jun!"

He allowed another smile to pass through before saying, "You do." Then he began to walk away from me.

I, of course, was not going to let him get away from, not by a long shot. Not while I had him here, with me. "No, no, Jun, don't go!" I reached out and grabbed his arm, holding on tight. "Please don't go! I don't know what's happening! Please, you can't go! Look, here," I placed 2 quick kisses on his lips, my trembling hands on his cheeks. "Please stay."

"I'd love to, considering there's more where that came from," He somehow, managed to get free of my grip easily, slipping away. "But I can't. I have to go."

"But…" He just kept on walking, and I? I was paralyzed. "Wait…! Don't _go_!"

But he kept on walking. Until he disappeared into the fog. And I continued to stand here, sobbing like a child.

But could I really let it end like this?

Fuck that.

I needed to go after him.

I jogged through the fog, repeatedly calling his name. Yet, there was no reply, and it didn't help that the fog was getting thicker by the second. I couldn't even see my hands even if I held them up in front of me. What the hell?

I took slower steps, but it wasn't going help if I couldn't clearly see the ground in front of me. I took another step, another, and then another-

And then the next step – there was no solid surface.

I screamed as loud as my lungs would allow me as the wind continued to tear through me. This was it – there was nothing I could do. There was nothing-

* * *

Celestina's eyes forced themselves open as she gasped loudly for an intake of breath. Pain coursed through her entire body, even without her moving a limb.

 _"Get the doctors in here! Stat!"_ That voice, despite being nearby, felt like a large distance from her.

But no doctor got to her in time to hear her say, "Don't... go…"

* * *

 **A/N: After a long hiatus! And I believe this is the longest chapter thus far!  
**


	18. Never Formal

**Location: Celestina's ward, Medial Facility, Vulture Base  
Planet: Dolor  
Cyngus system  
May 2nd, 2549  
9:06am**

"Hurts…"

The nurse had been preoccupied with entering Celestina's readings from the biomonitors into her data pad. She twisted her neck to question the Spartan, after hearing her soft voice. "What does, Spartan? Your head?"

"How long…?"

"It'll be like that for a while, I'm afraid,"

"… Fuck…"

"Alright, all your readings seem good over here," The nurse turned her entire body to Celestina, wearing a smile. "Normally I'd advise against it, but are you good for a visitor?"

The nurse would have sworn that her weak eyes brightened up. "Jun?"

"I'm afraid not, Spartan. Shall I bring him in? He's been waiting a while now."

Though greatly disappointed that it was not her teammate, she gave the nurse the go-ahead to call in this mysterious visitor.

His brown hair had been kept slicked back. He was tall. Very tall – a height only a Spartan would have.

"Hello, Celestina. I do hope you recognize me. I'm Lieutenant Kurt Ambrose. But for the longest time, you'd call me-"

"Boss."

When that single word slipped out of her mouth, there was no doubt that Ambrose would be rendered speechless. He also could not stop the corner of his mouth from curling. He should have known for a fact that Celestina, out of all people, would forget him. He had trained her, after all. And he would never forget the Spartan, who - barely out of the augmentations – had sought to see her downed teammate.

He caught sight of her trembling right hand making its hardest of attempts to lift up for what he could only assume was a salute, but her arm was not even getting an inch off the bed so he quickly stopped her. "At ease, Celestina. It was never really formal between us, anyways."

She replied with a small nod, as if she did not have the energy for another word.

Kurt held in a wince. She responded to him in an almost painfully slow manner. He knew she needed to take things incredibly delicately right now, and it probably going to last for a while. With significant head trauma, patience was the key.

"Jun…?"

"Yes, I spoke to one of the doctors. Jun's been with you almost every day for 2 months since you fell. As long as he hadn't been called away to minimize the Covenant activity around here. 2 weeks ago, doctors heard him arguing with a private, something about 'orders'. He left the next day."

She listened intently, and then lowered her hazel eyes.

"I'll try my best to get a hold of him somehow, but I can't make any promises."

Celestina expressed her understanding with yet, another nod. "You're… here?"

He gave her a nod at that. "Yes, Celestina. I'm here to personally take you back to Camp Currahee. You'll continue your recovery there. ONI figured that going back to your roots will speed up the process so that they can get you back in the field. But we'll take everything slow, okay? There's no need to rush."

"…Okay."

"You must be tired, even from just saying a few words. Get some rest. We're being transported later in the day. Don't worry," He found himself a seat on a chair next to her bedside. "I'll be right here."

* * *

 _This is usually the part where I make an audio journal recording, but I can't, because I can't speak past a few words – one at a time. I can't make a journal in writing because I can't move my right arm well._

 _So all I have are the thoughts that I'm stringing together right now._

 _I'm back home. To my first home. Camp Currahee. Staying in one of the room in the Camp Commandant's residence. I'm confined to the bed because I can't move on my own and I'm hooked up to machines. Man, do I feel like the world's biggest piece of shit right now._

 _Ambrose has been incredibly patient with me the whole day. Says that he's going to help me out whenever he's not needed with Gamma Company. Oh, but it's not necessary, because I have nurses for that. Of course, I can't tell him that because I can only get one word out at a time._

 _Indeed, it was never really formal between the Lieutenants._


	19. Strong

**Location: UNSC Hopeful  
February 2551**

"How are they?"

"As good as they can be. I think you know what I mean."

She nodded meekly.

"What about you? The headaches?"

"Memory flashes. Of the day I fell," Celestina massaged her temples almost instinctively, the moment she heard the word 'headache'. "Now I can't get the sight of Jun's horrified face out. He thought he was losing me."

Lieutenant Kurt Ambrose stood just a few feet away as he addressed her, hands parked behind his back. "I'd like nothing more than for him to know that you're awake, Celestina. But you'll see him again one day. I'd like to see the look on _his_ face."

Her response was but the hint of a smile, as she adjusted herself on the edge of her bed. "Permission to speak freely, Lieutenant Commander?"

"It's never really been formal between us, _Lieutenant_." He told her with a smirk.

Celestina gave him a shake of her head, "I've been forced to retire."

"Doesn't mean you forget who you were. I hope you remember that you're still a Spartan. Besides, this retirement is temporary. You're still relearning your skills. You're training, aren't you?"

She averted his eyes.

"Celestina-"

"I think you're forgetting what happened last year. I collapsed in my armor. Even being augmented, my body doesn't have the capacity to be in the suit anymore," With a sigh, she then added, "My brain won't let it..."

"I need you to have faith, Celestina. It was their fault anyways, shoving you back into your armor so soon when you've still got symptoms. This is just a setback. Now I've taught you and your teammates how to handle setbacks, haven't I? I didn't tell you to take a defeat and live with it."

"No, you did not, sir,"

"Then I believe you'll return to your armor soon," Putting an end to this part of the conversation, he moved on to her question. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

"I wanted to ask… if it's going to be worth it."

"What is, Celestina?"

"The additional drugs you're administrating to Gamma Company," She presented a smile. "The corner of your mouth just twitched, boss. You've confirmed my suspicions."

Ambrose kept his composure, refusing to appear unnerved, even though he had obviously failed. "Can I ask how you came to know this?"

"Sleeping has been even more of a problem ever since my fall. I overheard a conversation between you and Ackerson when I was leaving my room to take a walk."

"The walls are pretty thick in the Camp Commandant's residence." He commented with a tilt of his head.

"Just one of the many perks of that training you gave me. I wouldn't have been able to retrieve valuable Innie information if my ears weren't open." She flaunted him a cheeky smile.

"Indeed. What did you hear?"

"Ackerson said that you 'made your point' and that he would 'approve of those drugs'. And for the entire day today, you've been a nervous wreck, even though you didn't show it."

"Just another one of the many perks of that training, I presume?"

"It was easy to put two and two together."

He let a sigh escape through his nose. "Didn't think that all that training I had you take would come back to haunt me."

"You know you can trust me, boss." She said.

"Of course, Celestina. I know that for a fact. I just didn't think anyone outside Ackerson and myself would have knowledge of this."

"And no one else going to know," She assured with whatever energy she could muster. "I've always trusted your judgment. I know you want them to live to fight another day, to not let them have the same fates as Alpha and Beta, but you need to be careful."

"There's nothing to worry about, Celestina. I'm fine. As will they be."

Her eyes soften at that and she only question, "How can you be sure of that?"

"I can't promise anything. I can only try," He took a step towards her. "I know you care for them too. It's in your nature to show concern for virtually anyone. Despite your condition, you've been a huge help in training them these 2 years. But they're strong, just like you." She opened her mouth to object so he cut in immediately. "You _are_ strong. I won't say it again. You were in their shoes once, and you made it. So you and I will have to believe that they'll make it too."

Her gaze shifted forward, and Ambrose could see that she was processing everything he had just told her. Letting of a sigh, she pushed herself off the edge of her bed, struggling to her feet, with Kurt instantly giving her a hand to use as leverage. "Celestina?"

As if she was collecting her thoughts, she glanced up at his face, hazel eyes shining. "May I go see them, boss?"

"It wouldn't make any sense if you didn't. Go on, Spartan."


	20. Count The Stars

**Location: Reach  
Military base  
May 2551**

"Have you ever heard of this Commander Musa?"

"Can't say I ever had the pleasure. I did know a Spartan-II named Musa, however. So if he is who I think he is, you're in good hands."

The uncertainty was written all over Celestina's face. "Just what exactly am I going to be doing, boss?"

Ambrose stood at her doorway, facing her all the while. "You'll know when you meet him. As of now, it's classified."

"Great. I'm going to be shipped to somewhere I don't know, to do something I don't know."

"I'm sure it's something very important, if he's personally hand-picked you to assist him."

She turned to him, halting her action of reaching for another shirt to stuff into her duffle bag. "See, that's another mystery to me. Why me?"

"You're a woman of many talents, Celestina. It could be just about anything. Take these Gamma Company Spartans, for example," Ambrose said, stepping into her room a little further. "You've been an immense help. And I personally think you've been a good influence on Lucy too."

Her smile was a soft one. "You're just saying that."

"I'm not." Although his reply was stern.

"Boss, I can't see the contributions that you _think_ I've made!" She held back enough so that her exclamation was just a mellowed one. "I have been next to useless during my time here. You say that I've been a huge help to the Gamma Spartans here but we both know that's not true! Because I am not at my fullest capacity so I _can't_ spare with them and test them."

"You've been doing very well whenever you and I train."

"No, I haven't been. It only looks like that because you've slowed yourself down incredibly just so I can keep up with you. It's been 2 years since the accident! It's not supposed to be like this! I'm supposed to be _okay_ by now!"

Ambrose adopted a warmer tone to communicate with her; he had always held one with her anyways. "I understand how it feels to be frustrated. That you can't do what you do best," He finally met up with her. "When I first started this, it felt strange. To sit back. We're Spartans. We're made for combat."

Her dog tags swung back and forth as she leaned over to retrieve the last shirt. Her former trainer's final sentence caused her to grip her dog tags and stare wistfully into them. "I was never actually _made_ for combat. None of us were. We just wanted revenge for the deaths of our families…"

"I know, Celestina." _I'll never fully understand that, however._

"At least, I _think_ that's why," There was a grimace on her face, one that said she was trying to recall something. "I can't seem to remember."

Those words troubled Ambrose without a doubt. "You… can't remember why you joined the Spartan program?"

She folded her last shirt up and put it away into her duffle bag. "N-not really. I've tried to, but I can't get the exact reason why. I'm sure I thought I was doing what I thought was needed at the time. As a 7-year-old."

He gave her a half-smile for that. "Indeed you were, Celestina."

* * *

 **Military base rooftops  
May 2551**

She loved them all – every single star that dotted the navy-blue sky above her on this night. It made her heart fill with joy – and wistfulness.

"Hello, Celestina,"

She looked towards the owner of the voice she was all to familiar with. "Evening, Lieutenant," She jumped off the railing to meet up with him.

"You're all packed?"

"And ready to depart tomorrow," She said with a big sigh, refilling her glass with scotch. "Come on. Have a drink with me."

"Celestina-" He began to protest.

"Come on," She instantly cut it, pouring the scotch into a second glass she had. "You've avoided drinking with me for the entirety of these 2 years. One drink's not gonna kill ya."

"No, I suppose it won't," Ambrose replied with a sigh of his own. "You had purposely brought a second glass with you."

"Indeed I did. I know: I'm devious."

He allowed himself a quick chuckle and a sip of the scotch before speaking. "You've said your goodbyes to Chief Mendez already?"

"Not yet, boss. I will in a bit."

"I give up. I've told you repeatedly to call me Kurt but that nickname is always going to roll off your tongue."

"Sorry that I'm not sorry, boss," She said with her usual bright smile. "Alright, I'll play along, since this is the last time I'm gonna see you."

"We'll meet again, Celestina. I think you know that."

Her smile began to fade, little by little as she spoke, her fingers drumming around her glass. "I didn't know I'd lose Dominick, my brother. I didn't know I'd fall into a coma and break up what was left of Team Phantom. I don't know a lot of things, Kurt."

"Then listen to me when I tell you that we'll definitely meet up once again," He leaned over the solid railing. "And you'll definitely see Jun again soon."

She returned her gaze towards the sky. "I sure hope so."

Ambrose decided to focus on something else in their conversation – something that he had never told her thus far. "I never thanked you,"

"For?" She questioned with a tilt of her head.

"For trusting me. With the extra drugs for Gamma."

She nodded at that, but Ambrose could see that there was some hesitation on her face, in her smile. "When I first heard what you had planned… I'll admit that I was angry."

Of course, that confession stirred confusion within the man. "Angry, Celestina?"

She averted her gaze once more as she prepared to explain herself. "Those poor kids, after going through everything they have gone through… Now they'll have to worry about flying off the handle. And it won't even be in their control. I was angry because I know what it's like to not be in control anymore."

"You never said anything to me until after the procedure. Why?"

"Because in the end, I did what I'm hard-wired to do: trust you."

She had responded almost immediately, and Ambrose could not stop that tiny smile from forming. "I _am_ going to miss you."

It was as if those were words that she never thought she would hear, and it was pleasant. "Me too."

"And you'll see him again," Ambrose took a sip of his forgotten scotch. "Wherever Jun is, he'll live through whatever he's in the middle of and come home to you."

"And I'll be waiting." She added in a wistful tone.

"You've _always_ been waiting. Whenever Ackerson's got him on those private missions?"

Celestina threw her head back at that. "Ugh, I _hated_ those! Jun would be gone for months at a time. I certainly didn't appreciate Ackerson constantly doing that and breaking up my team. Good thing I had the stars to keep me company."

"The stars?" Ambrose questioned with a raised eyebrow.

He received a warm smile from her, one that said she was accessing a sweet memory in her mind. "Something that Jun said to me years ago. I was angry at him for leaving _yet again_ because Ackerson said so. We were at the rooftops, as usual, and I lamented that what to do once he left. It was like he was out of ideas to console me, so he told me to count the stars. I said that that would be impossible, but he rebutted that it would at least give me something to do and make the time go faster until I'd see him again."

It amazed him, the way she told that story, she did not skip a beat whatsoever. "You described that in almost perfect detail, Celestina. I'm glad that that memory wasn't lost you."

"Me too," She beamed to those stars and back.

"And you never had to worry about Ackerson's shenanigans. At the end of the day, Jun belonged to you, Celestina."

A nervous chuckle left her, her mind running rampant that his last remark. "Well, that's-"

"He keeps you happy. You keep him human. I think it's one hell of a relationship, don't you?" He produced a rare smirk. "Certainly doesn't need to be brought down by anyone."

Perhaps Ambrose knew. Perhaps he had known all this time and chose not to say anything. Because just like how she had trusted him implicitly, he trusted them too. "No. It doesn't."


End file.
